Suzaku of the Remix
by Miki-chan13
Summary: Once a event passes by, you cannot change it; it's simply not possible. Suzaku Kururugi has accepted this for ten years, but cannot help but regret. But when an immortal, the one who granted CC's wish no less, offers him a chance to fix the past, to save those who have died, Suzaku takes the chance. But he won't be alone in his efforts, not this time. Suzaku K. x Mariel L.
1. Chapter 1

"It's time."

On the outskirts of a large forest, were two people. The first person was a man wearing fine black clothing, including a jacket with a jewel-studded crest that easily set him apart as a man with a lot of money. But what set him apart further from the mundane nature of humanity were his eyes, which were cold red with geass sigils reflected in both of the irises.

The other person was a young woman with long lime green hair, butter yellow eyes and a white short sleeved dress. She looked at the man with barely restrained anticipation. At long last, her wish would be fulfilled.

_She had been so close five years ago, but it had ended in failure._

"Are you sure about this?" the man asked, not for the first time.

"There is nothing left for me here," CC said, her code glowing brightly.

The man nodded, but it did nothing to ease the anguish in his heart. He knew what plagued her heart, why she wished to die; it was not because she was tired of living, but that fact that she pinned to be with him, Lelouch vi Britannia. All she wanted now was to be with her contractor. Even so, it hurt knowing that he couldn't change her mind, or redirect her heart.

"All right."

With that, he closed the distance between them and set his lips on her own. Cold red light flared around them as the conversion took place. The burning in his eyes spread through his entire body, engulfing him as he drew the code away from CC, transferring it to himself. Finally, the man opened his eyes to look upon the woman. The sigils vanished from his eyes and upon his forehead, spread the code.

CC gasped, clutching the man's black coat tightly to steady herself. The man's arms wrapped around her comfortingly before she looked up at him, butter yellow into steel-violet.

"Do it."

With that, the man took out a jagged knife and shakily raised above his head. His upper face was shadowed as he re-positioned the knife in his hand to get a better angle.

"Please," CC whispered, pleadingly.

_"Nng.."_

The hand shook even more before it stopped and the man lowered his arm and turned away. CC looked at him in surprise, only for the man to turn around at almost light speed and impale her on the knife.

A choked gasp came out as blood trickled past her lips. The knife's blade twisted through the skin, nearly out her back before the man wrenched it out. A peaceful smile spread on her face. One of her hands gently cupped the man's face while the other hugged him to her.

"Thank you so much," she whispered.

Tears continued to flow down the man's face as his own arms enveloped her frame, heedless of the blood seeping into his clothes. He grabbed her face and kissed her again, except he used all the passion built up from the years he spent with her.

"I love you," the man choked breathlessly as he withdrew his lips from hers.

The woman's eyes widened and more tears trickled down the man's cheeks as he continued to kiss her cheeks, nose, eyelids and forehead frantically.

"I love you more than my own life," he said, looking back into her butter yellow eyes, his own tear-clouded irises reflected back to him.

CC stared at him, eyes wide, before she closed the distance between them and kissed him back shyly. The man's eyes widened this time at her gesture. She had never kissed him before, even when she gave him his geass.

"I'll wait for you... in the World of C."

Her eyes then closed, and breathed one last time before she went limp in the man's arms. The tears trickled down the man's face faster as he clutched CC to him, his sobs tuning to screams of anguish ad grief were heard by no one.

* * *

The cavern emitted a lazy glow of cold red. At the back, were two double doors, linked together by the crane-shaped sigil.

The man smirked triumphantly. He finally found it. This is what he needed to start his plan.

He approached the doors and set his palm against the stone surface, his code glowing brightly before white light filled his vision. The next moment, he was standing on the beginnings of a platform that overlooked a sunset, but with no sun. Clouds were all around, the bottom non-existent.

But what made this different from the other thought elevators was what was all ready there on the platform. In the middle, was a coffin like container, built into the surface of the platform, with a glass top.

And it wasn't empty.

Laid down on the cushion-y surface inside the container, was was a young man, only seventeen years old. He looked to be asleep, or even dead, but the man knew better

His code glowed brightly as he laid his hand on the glass, looking at the teen.

"Awaken. Your power is needed once more," he said, his voice filled with raw power that only a code could give him.

Such a command could not be ignored, and the boy's eyes slowly opened, revealing the sigils of geass...

* * *

(Chirp, chirp)

Birds chirped cheerily as they flew about around the secluded manor, small, yet elegant. It had only about ten rooms, two bedroom, kitchen, two bathrooms, a den, amusement room, library, makeshift dojo and storage room distributed on two levels. But for the people occupying the place, it was perfect.

Bleary emerald green eyes fluttered open at the sounds that the early morning had brought. After about ten minutes of laying in bed, he finally got up, running strong, tanned fingers through his curly chocolate brown hair. He gave a sleepy yawn before getting off the bed completely. He turned back to the furniture, seeing its other occupant had all ready risen earlier.

He picked up the clothing hanging on the chair by the night stand and put them on. Some loose black pants and a white undershirt were easy to wear and within walking distance. He opened the door and walked down the stars, hand listlessly sliding on the smooth banister. Bare feet padded against cool marble and soft almost fluffy carpet as he made his way to the kitchen, where he could smell breakfast clearly.

He turned one more time and entered the kitchen. It was fairly spacious, with different cabinets holding the various dishes and cooking utensils. The latest fridge, stove/ oven, and microwave brands were placed carefully in the room so that no one would walk into them, should they be blind or stupid enough to. The delicious breakfast smells were far stronger now, making him salivate.

His companion was turned to the stove, humming under her breath softly as she tended to the cooking food. Her bluish-grey tinted black hair was pulled back in a pony tail, her gold-flecked hazel eyes locked on the food she was preparing. The smells of bacon, eggs and pancakes wafted around his nostrils when he didn't breath in. When she set the finished food on the platters and turned off the stove, he came up behind her, attempting to surprise his companion. However, at the last second, she whirled around and kissed his nose playfully.

"You may be my darling husband, but keep your hands to yourself until the food's ready, Suzaku," she said with a sweet but stern smile.

Suzaku Kururugi smiled, lips twitching. "Good morning to you too, Elle," he replied back, smiling as well.

He walked over to the dishes cabinet and took out two plates, sets of appropriate silverware, glasses and napkins and set them out on the table. He walked to the fridge and opened it up, taking out a carton of milk, a jar each of strawberry and raspberry jam, and a platter of butter and set them on the table.

He opened the cabinet above and took out the instant coffee and the sugar bowl located on the left bottom shelf. He poured the appropriate amount of ground beans into the cups before turning on the faucet and filled the cups with hot water before mixing the two ingredients together.

Elle just walked by him holding a bowl of eggs in one hand and a platter pf bacon in the other as he picked up the two mugs.

"You know I can help you cook once in a while, Elle," the brunette said, looking a little worried for her.

Elle shook her head, snorting at the suggestion. "Not a chance. Sorry sweetie, but I don't trust you being near the stove or oven without the fire alarm coming on. It's much better for both of us and the fire department if you leave making the meals to me."

Suzaku chuckled sheepishly. He knew he wasn't the best cook in the world, but he wasn't _that_ bad, was he?

"Besides," Elle said, looking at him with an almost solemn expression, "you have more to worry about than cooking our meals, eh?"

He set the coffee mugs in front of the set places. "Can I at least help you get the rest of the food out?" he asked, almost sarcastically.

Elle looked thoughtful before giving an exaggerated huff. "Oh all right; so long as you don't touch the stove top, I think we'll be fine."

Suzaku chuckled as he backtracked, taking the platter of pancakes off the top, fingers not even grazing the surface. He set the platter by the other food and finally, the two sat down and clasped their hands together.

"Idaikumatsu."

With that, the two began dishing up the food and eating leisurely. For once, in a long time, neither was busy that day. Neither would be called into their respective jobs, neither would have to put on their masks, neither would have to work themselves ragged.

Today, they wouldn't have to be Zero, man of miracles or Dr. Lubie, scientist and engineer extraordinaire. Today, they could be Suzaku and Elle Kururugi, husband and wife.

"Say, do we need any more food yet?" Suzaku asked after swallowing a mouthful of eggs.

"We're set for another few weeks, but I want to try a new recipe today, so I'll have to ask for the appropriate ingredients to be brought here," Elle answered before chomping into a pancake slathered in jam, butter and maple syrup.

"What are you trying to make? Suzaku inquired as he put a piece of bacon in his mouth.

"It's a Polish dish called Bigos, a stew with cabbage, sauerkraut, beef and sausage," Elle replied, pouring cream into her mug.

"Hey, that sounds pretty tasty!" the brunette said, perking up.

"I thought so too, that's why I wanted to try making it," the blunette chuckled at her husband's mood change.

"I can't wait to taste it."

"Heh..."

Elle looked at her husband's face, now lit up like a child's. Her face softened. It always made her happy to see her husband smile like he used to, and the times between his smiles were far and in between. And she owed it all to _that_.

_Zero Requiem._

The plan enacted by the last emperor of Britannia, Lelouch Vi Britannia. By piling all of the world's hatred onto his shoulders, then having Zero kill him at the height of his power, would eliminate the hate that so many people bore toward him, and bring about the steps to a better future for the world. She could see some of his logic; hate was something that could only destroy, and by riding the world of pretty much all of it, they could focus their efforts in the world on far better outlets than war.

That being said, his majesty had not been so naive to believe that his death would fix everything. It was up to the people left behind to change, to forgive, and to live on, and it wouldn't be easy. The world would have to learn to put aside their emotions, misgivings, and prejudice in order for there to be the closest to true peace. That's why he had Suzaku become Zero, so that he could protect this world and its future and people. Elle simply couldn't imagine it, being left with such a task.

Nunnally became the new ruler of their land, changing its name to the United States of America and adopting the original constitution laid down by what would have been the founding fathers, had it not been for Franklin the traitor. Royalty no longer existed, and Knightmare frames were now retired (that is to say that she and Apslund, Chawla and Einstein still didn't dabble and create new ideas for the robots). Sakuradite was no longer drilled for, now that it was becoming increasingly harder to find, the nations opting for new sources of power, mainly solar/lunar power and electricity.

The Black Knights now had headquarters all around the world, with people of all nationalities joining them. The U.F.N. had successfully kept peace around the world, settling many international disputes and stopping even more wars.

All this in just ten years time.

But Elle knew that the scars would never fade away, for either of them. The battles between the Black Knights and Britannia had claimed many lives, including her entire family, as in her father, mother and older brother, and Suzaku had all ready lost the woman he loved, Euphimia li Britannia, and his dearest friend, Lelouch vi Britannia, as well as painting him as a traitor to his own people, even though he had been fighting for their sake all along (albeit not the best way).

A frown crossed Elle's face as she remembered Suzaku telling her of Euphimia, her confession and the accident that cost her her reputation as a kind woman and her life. But it hadn't stopped either of them from falling in love with the other and Nunnally joining them.

"Elle, are you all right?" Suzaku asked, looking at her a little worriedly.

The blunette shook her head, smiling. "Just thinking about what's happened these past years."

Suzaku nodded slightly. "Yeah, a lot happened, especially with the people around us."

The people he referred to were the ones privy to Zero Requiem, as well as the only ones who knew the truth behind many of Lelouch's supernatural crimes. They included Kaname and Villta Ohgi, Nunnally vi Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia, Gilbert G. Guilford, Jerimiah Gottwald, Llyod Apsuld, Rakshata Chawla, Nina Eistein, Cecile Croomy, Shinichiro Tamaki, Li Xingke, Chairwoman Tianzi, Kaguya Sumeragi, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Nagisa Chiba, Sayoko Shinozaki, Kallen Kouzuki, Gino Weinburg, Anya Alstreim, Rivalz Cardemonde, Milly Ashford and CC.

(notnot_not_) Surprisingly, many of these people got married besides Villeta and Ohgi; Guilford finally confessed to Cornelia and they married about six months later, Chiba practically proposed to Tohdoh and wouldn't take "no" for an answer, Gino and Kallen had feelings all the way back to before Damocles and Gino wouldn't let Kallen wallow all by herself, Jerimiah and Sayoko had bonded very easily over their similar traits and personalities and eventually married as well, Llyod and Cecile soon realized that neither would not be able to be with anyone else but themselves, and Milly finally allowed Rivalz to date and eventually marry her. Even timid little Nina was currently going out with a Japanese man named Angie.

Basically, a lot of love went down between the co-conspirators in ten years.

"Do you think he's happy?"

Elle looked at Suzaku confused before she realized. "Do you mean...?"

Suzaku nodded stiffly.

Lelouch's name had become slightly taboo between the two, Suzaku simply referring to the man as "him" and Elle never bringing him up.

"I like to think that given the facts that his majesty was able to bring about the world that Lady Nunnally wished and that they reconciled before he died, he would be very happy," Elle gave her response.

Suzaku looked thoughtful. "That's the answer I came to as well."

Elle looked at her husband's expression. She knew that wasn't all that was on his mind. "What's wrong, Suzaku?"

The brunette shook his head. "It's been an entire decade, Mariel(full-name basis equals serious conversation coming up), and I should be past all of this, but..."

Elle put a hand on his shoulder. "Please tell me."

Suzaku raked a hand through his hair as the words tumbled out of his mouth. "I know that- that it wasn't just due to the mistakes and decisions I made all those years ago- but I can't stop wishing I had been smarter back then, that I knew the thing I know now, so I could have at least prevented so many tragedies- or at least make sure that Lelouch and Nunnally would be together- it was my fault in the first place; first with the SAZ, then F.L.E.I.J.A, I stopped him from being with Nunnally both times and I didn't even know it- I was too wrapped up in my own delusions to think about such things-"

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "Britannia was like a spoiled, bullying child; they wanted everything and picked on those who couldn't defend themselves; that's why I hated them in the first place. Then I met Lelouch and Nunnally and they changed my opinion. I thought that there were other people like them, who were kind and gentle.

That's one of the reasons why I decided to change Britannia from within, so I could bring people like Lelouch and Nunnally to light. As the Knight of One, I could do that easily in such a position. But I know now that that kind of solution wouldn't have worked; not permanently at least. There are just times where you can't just keep indulging a spoiled child, especially if they're a bully, you have to put them in their place so they understand what they're doing is wrong, so they'll stop! That's what Lelouch was trying to do as Zero, and now I'm doing it for him.

I only wish I could have seen it back then, but now I know better, so that's something, right?"

Suzaku then rubbed the back of his head almost sheepishly, a tiny smile on his face. "I know that some of what I said is silly, but it's just how I feel."

"I don't think it's silly," Elle replied, smiling endearingly, "I can't count how many times I wish I could have saved my family from death."

Her expression became sadder. "I keep thinking about what would have happened if I had known when and where the F.L.E.I.J.A would have been used, I could have evacuated them and gotten all three away from Pendragon before..."

She shook her head. "What's done is done now, Suzaku; you can't keep moving forward if you regret the past. All we can do is live with what we have in the future, if not for ourselves, then for the people we care for."

_Well spoken. I couldn't agree more._

Elle and Suzaku froze at the new voice. The brunette quickly leaped to his feet, slipping into his fighting stance without a second thought.

_It's all right, I'm just using telepathy_, the voice said gently, as if trying to reassure (albeit in an extremely patronizing way) a child.

"Where are you?!" Suzaku barked.

_Just outside the front door. I'd like to speak to you and your wife about something very astounding I plan to initiate_, the voice said.

Suzaku looked back at Elle, raising an eyebrow. She simply shrugged and pointed to her arm muscles and back to him. He breathed in before going to the front door. He hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and opened the door up, revealing the one who spoke.

Or at least, one of them. Suzaku's breath caught in his throat.

_Black hair, amethyst eyes, angular features-_

"Le-!"

The man shook his head before Suzaku could finish his sentence. "I am not your friend, Suzaku Kururugi."

Suzaku stared at him incredulously, about to ask what he was talking about, because there was no way that this wasn't Lelouch vi Britannia, except that he realized it really wasn't his childhood friend.

The man was in his late thirties, older than Lelouch, even if he had been alive. His hair reached nearly to his waist and his eyes weren't the same shade of purple as Lelouch's, more of a dark, almost black, violet than amethyst.

"You're not him," the Japanese man stated.

"That's what I said," the man sighed, slightly exasperated.

"How do you-"

"I'd prefer if we could come inside to talk; at least inside a stray paparazzi'll have less of a chance to photograph an unwanted scene," the man interjected matter-of-factly.

Suzaku wordlessly opened the door wider, allowing the Lelouch look-alike and the other two people by him to enter the house. Elle apporached them, eyeing the new-comers with interest. It wasn't every day you saw the look-alike of the world's most despised man.

"Is there anywhere we can sit down? We've gone through quite a bit to get here," the man requested.

Suzaku lead them to the den on the first floor. There was a sofa, two armchairs and a coffee table near the center of the room, with a desk and light near the back. The newcomers sat on the sofa and Suzaku and Elle occupied the armchairs. That was when Suzaku could properly look at the man's other companion.

The boy around seventeen years old, with silver almost white hair, azure eyes and an extremely pale complexion. He wore a grey suit with black trim and red tie, common in the military nowadays, but he certainly didn't carry himself as such, his movements being casual and fluid.

_Wonder who this kid is_, Suzaku thought absently before Lelouch's look-alike cleared his throat.

"My name, at one time, was Sir Dash Lamperouge," he started out, "Marianne Lamperouge was my older sister."

Suzaku and Elle both looked startled at this.

"How is that possible?! There was never a 'Dash Lamperouge' registered in the Lamperouge family, ever!" Suzaku exclaimed.

"I was once registered there, until she married Charles zi Britannia," Dash replied a frown crossing his face, "I opposed their marriage because I didn't wish to see my sister become part of his harem. 'Speak now or forever hold your peace' the priest said. That is exactly what I did; in front of nearly every noble attending, the emperor's other wives and children," he chuckled slightly, "Oh, the havoc I caused that day..."

_This is definitely one of _his_ relatives,_ Suzaku and Elle simultaneously thought, sweat-dropping.

"To keep me quiet, I was erased from my family's family tree and sent to Europe. Ten years later, news reached me of my sister's death."

His fists tightened around the material of his pants. "I couldn't believe she was dead. I couldn't. I was furious with that man, not just for taking my sister away from me, but for putting her in the circumstances that lead to her death."

"I would have joined the Black Knights if not for VV imprisoning me, in case I tried to meddle in his plans. He didn't trust anyone who was close to Marianne, especially her baby brother, and he was right. When I found out that he was the one who killed my sister, I nearly snapped."

He sighed. "When Lelouch attacked the order, I was able to escape through all of the confusion and make it back into Europe after nearly dying in the desert and in the Chinese Federation. It took me time to recover from that and by the time I did, I was able to witness my nephew take the throne, saying that he killed Charles zi Britannia and brought the world underneath his thumb."

"After his death, I wandered all around. I had no idea what to do anymore. My sister's murderer and her 'husband' were dead, I had nothing to strive for. Until," his expression became softer, "I met _her_."

"'Her' who?" Elle asked, leaning forward.

"You know her all ready, by the alias 'CC'."

"You met CC?!" Suzaku exclaimed.

"I did and more; she offered me a contract and I accepted," Dash said simply, "she wished to die and I had nothing else I wanted to do, so I devoted the next five years to becoming powerful enough to fulfill her wish."

"What was your geass, if you don't mind me asking?" Elle inquired.

"Absolute Path," Dash answered, "which is fitting, since I had no idea what path I wanted to take, the geass allowed me to choose the best path that would benefit myself, or anyone else of my choosing; in other words, CC."

"Then, finally after five years ago, I was able to reach the peak of power to take her code away."

With that, Dash lifted away hid bangs, revealing the cold red code, glowing faintly.

"But," his hand dropped away on to his lap, "during those years with her, I began to care about CC, even love her. I knew she was using me, but so was I; she gave me purpose when I lost my way and I gave her hope for death. Killing her was the single greatest regret of my life and at the same time, I discovered the only path that I wanted to take."

_"I wanted to be with her; not as codes, but as humans, until death separated us."_

Elle and Suzaku stared at the man before them, silent. They both understood the longing for the person they loved and felt both pity and sympathy for Dash and even CC.

"Which brings me to what I which to ask of you," Dash said, looking Suzaku int he eyes, "Suzaku Kururugi, how do you feel about the present?"

Suzaku blinked but thought hard before answering. "Small wars come up, but is stopped quickly. People continue to fight among each other again, but not nearly as much as they could have. America is an ideal country, one I wished existed instead of Britannia. But in some ways, it can be as corrupt, if not more, than Britannia. But, it's still a largely peaceful world, or the closest it can get, anyways."

"Are you satisfied with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really think that this is how the world should be like? For instance, it would have come to fruition much quicker than if certain people took certain actions and if others hadn't died and if others hadn't lived."

Suzaku flinched slightly.

_Euphimia._

Her pink ringlets, her pale blue eyes and innocent soul. The first woman he ever loved (yet that love was little more than a candle to the love he held for Elle).

_Shirley._

Her auburn hair, olive eyes and kind spirit. The first student besides Lelouch to treat him so kindly.

_... Lelouch._

His silky black hair, amethyst eyes, there was no one like him in the world. His best friend, his rival, his enemy, his confidant, his emperor.

Dash nodded. "Do you wish they were alive, these people you care for?"

"... why do you ask me these things? That's all in the past, there's nothing any of us can do about that now," Suzaku said in a low voice.

"Wrong."

The brunette looked at Dash. "I don't understand."

"What if I told you," Dash said, holding up his index finer, "that there was a way to save them? And that way, was time travel?"

Suzaku stared at him. "I'd say you were out of your mind."

Dash laughed at that. "Of course you would!"

At that, a grin that looked very much like Lelouch's spread on his face. "But it IS possible! I have the power to do so!"

"But then, why ask someone else to come with, assuming you do have this power?" Elle asked.

"Because I don't know about all the circumstances that lead up to how the world is what it is. What I do know is that it began twelve years ago, in the former Area 11, September 28th, 2017, when Lelouch vi Britannia was given the Power of Absolute Obedience. That is when the world began to change," Dash explained.

"So you want to travel back to the origin of it all," Suzaku said softly.

Dash nodded. "And I wanted to bring along someone who knew of those events to help me..." Dash stopped and frowned pensively, "er, what are the words?"

"Fix the past?" Suzaku said.

Dash snapped his fingers. "Exactly! You were the first person I wanted to visit, because you were the closest to my sister's son, so I figured you'd know more about what he did than anyone else. I managed to get some details from CC, but they were from her point of view and she stayed mostly on the sidelines."

"But- but what about the results yielded by the past events?" Suzaku asked, "what about the people that are living in this world now?! We would destroy memories, we could prevent children from being born! How can you ask such a thing?!"

"I figured you'd make that argument, which is why I say this," Dash said, "if the future that we make isn't satisfactory, then I will return us to the present, with the past unaltered. And for another thing, we won't alter everything if we go back, only if we interfere directly."

Suzaku frowned. His argument and offer were both very compelling. If he accepted, he could have the chance to save the people he loved. He could alter the tragedies and help the people around him so much more effectively than before.

_It could give me the chance to save them..._

"... what are the conditions?" Suzaku finally asked.

* * *

What do you think? This guy's been swimming in my head for months now and I just finished it! I hope you enjoy it and I will update it, just not as frequently as Fullmetal Geass.

Also, for any suggestions for battle scenes with the Knightmare frames (because I cannot write mecha), then please don't hesitate to write them down on reviews!

Oh God, the Millipede song... I just found it and I'm addicted.

I don't own Code Geass, just this little plot.


	2. Chapter 2

Marianne Flash: It'll get even more interesting from here on out.

Kyon: Dash is NOT an OC; he's the main antagonist in Renya of the darkness. Just type in Sir Dash and you'll find him.

There is no OC.

**THERE WILL BE NO OC!**

I would have PM'd you, but you shut off the icon. So yeah.

Also, I'm a bit offended that you'd think such a thing about the story that's been fermenting in my brain for _nearly a year_.

Not Logged In: Good to know.

* * *

"..."

Dash said nothing as he glanced Suzaku sideways. His upper face was shadowed, his posture stiff. Elle was worried now, wondering how this was going to play out. The boy by Dash simply sat, his expression blank.

"... is it the only way?" Suzaku finally asked.

Dash nodded. "I'm sorry, I know you have every right-"

"It's not that."

Suzaku didn't look upset, only thoughtful. "I suppose it makes sense that that is needed to travel back. Before, I saw it as a curse, as something that could only screw up everything and everyone. But... in the end, it's like a gun, or even Damocles. It's just a weapon, a means to an end. The one wielding it is ultimately responsible for the damage it causes. And... if this is what saving them means, then I'm willing to take it."

His expression became determined as he looked Dash in the eye. "I accept it. Allow me to become a contractor."

Dash smiled softly. "All right then."

"Hey," Elle suddenly said in a soft tone, "I'm gonna borrow Suzaku for a minute."

Dash nodded. "Of course. Take your time."

The bluenette's grip was like a vice as she dragged Suzaku out and to the main hall just before the door. Suzaku looked at her worriedly; her mood change was quite sudden and it was a little unsettling. The only time he had seen her like this was when she received the news of her family's death.

"Suzaku, I understand why you want to go through with this; the chance to save loved ones isn't something that one should pass up. But..."

She looked at him, an almost heart-broken expression on her face, "What about the loved ones here? What if they're left behind in the wake of the new timeline?"

Suzaku looked at her, bewildered. What did she mean by that-

Then, it hit him.

"... Mariel."

Elle looked up in time for Suzaku to kiss her chastely, before enveloping her in his arms. He withdrew a moment later, his hands holding Elle's face a few inches from his, expression totally serious.

"I will not leave you, not for anyone, not even Euphimia," he said with conviction.

Elle's eyes widened, tears beginning to pool in the gold-hazel orbs, but they didn't fall.

"But... how will you find me?"

"Who said I'd have to look? Elle, come with me."

She stared at him like Suzaku had grown two heads. "But- but- I was in Britannia during that time! How am I supposed to explain that to my family?!"

"We'll think of something," Suzaku said before his expression became pained.

"Please Elle; I don't want to be away from you. Even thinking about it, it- I really love you, that's why I can't bear to be away from you."

That's what undid any protest Elle had left. She smiled at him as her hand gently touched his cheek.

"Still as sappy as ever," she said, "neither can I."

Dash was poking the silver-haired boy's cheek absent-mindlessly when they re-entered the room. He didn't notice them until a minute passed and Suzaku cleared his throat. The raven-haired man removed his finger form the boy's face, looking totally innocent.

"Dash, will Elle be able to come with us if she receive geass as well?" Suzaku asked.

Dash looked thoughtful. "Well yes, but the power required to get all four of us to the past would take quite a bit out of me..."

"Wait, four?" Elle raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, four-" Dash stopped before face-palming himself.

"I didn't introduce my companion yet, have I?"

Suzaku and Elle shook their heads.

"Right then," Dash gestured to the silver-haired boy, who still maintained his blank expression.

"Suzaku, Mariel," he said before gesturing to the boy, "this is our secret weapon."

"'Secret weapon'?"

Dash nodded before turning to the boy. "Show them."

The boy nodded and took out an object that looked almost like a set of headphones and placed them over his ears before turning to the couple. His lips moved.

Suzaku blinked. When did he get on the floor? And why was his left foot so tired?

"What just happened?" he asked, getting back on his feet, along with Mariel.

Dash pointed to the boy's eyes, revealing the sigils of geass. "You just had a demonstration of this one's power: it's just like my nephew's power, Absolute obedience, only it works via auditory, instead of via eye contact. He just made you both hop on your dominant foot until you fell over."

Suzaku stared at the boy. "It's almost like Lelouch's geass..."_  
_

"Unlike Lelocuh's, his geass can be used as many times as he ants per person. But he has to wear those headphones because since the geass is auditory, if he hears the command he has to do it as well," Dash said.

"Is he one of your contractors?" Elle asked.

"No," Dash said, shaking his head, "he's the reason I spent the next five years after CC died scouring the globe. I found him in one of the Thought Elevators and I woke him up just a few days ago. Apparently, his original contractor decided to seal him away in the Thought Elevator so others could use his power, if they could awaken him that is."

"Does he have a name?" Elle asked, looking at the boy with a gentle expression.

"Not that I know of," the raven-haired man said.

Something flashed on the boy's face, but it disappeared as quickly as Suzaku saw it.

"Now, the fact that we come from a different time line is obviously going to impact the new one. You know deja vu? That's usually caused by time travel being used. It could be as minor as feeling like you had done something before to being as major as having flashbacks of or actually remembering part of the timeline before," Dash said.

"Would that apply to all of the people in that timeline?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, though the ones who have a higher chance of being majorly affected the most are the ones who died in this timeline."

"So then, the ones who would be at most risk of this would be-"

"- the people killed at Shinjuku, Saitama, SAZ, the Black Rebellion and F.L.E.I.J.A, as well as many Britannian soldiers, Black Knights, Chinese citizens, not to mention Clovis, Euphimia, Mao, Andreas Dalton, Calaras, the High Eunuchs, Xingke (_after passing away from his illness a few years before_) Shirley and her father, VV, Rolo, Bismar, Charles zi Britannia, Marianne vi Britannia, Lelouch and even CC," Suzaku finished, before visibly gulping.

If they _all_ got flashbacks, then they could (some more easily than others) take precautions and actions to prevent what ever they see from happening or help it along. While he was sure that Euphimia and Shirley and her father and the Japanese who were massacred would be more scared and cautious, he sure as hell couldn't apply that to Mao, the Eunuchs, VV, the more corrupt Britannian royalty or even Xingke.

And even though he knew him too well, Suzaku wasn't all too sure which direction Lelouch would go in. And CC could just as easily brush it off, as she did with pretty much everything.

_Factoring in they actually take them seriously._

"Would anyone actually be able to remember the entire timeline?" Suzaku asked.

"No, but there are exceptions," Dash said, "since I'll be the one who brings us back, I'll be able to 'awaken' or bring back a person's memories from the timeline, so long as they didn't die in the original timeline."

"So, if we wanted someone to remember the timeline, we'd just have to get you to them, right?" Elle said.

"Uh-huh. In fact, the task would definitely be much easier if we had allies in the timeline, especially if they're your fellow conspirators."

Suzaku nodded slightly. It would be a bit easier if it wasn't just the four of them trying to change everything, especially if they were on Lelouch's side completely.

_Kallen, Jeremiah, Sayoko, Milly, Rivalz and Nunnally would be a lot of help if they' were on our side, with their memories._

"What about the people who are married or the ones who have had children?" Elle asked.

"I would advise not to awaken those who have had children in this timeline; if they were to get together too soon or too late, then it could erase their current children's existence," Dash said, looking stern now, "and as for the people who got together or are currently married, it would be safe to use it on them, so long as they aren't expecting any children."

_He's right; if Villeta and Ohgi were to get together too quickly, then their children could be wiped out of existence,_ Suzaku realized.

He hadn't seen their son or daughter, but he knew that both parents loved them with all of their hearts.

"Now that all that I know about time-travel has been disclosed, I think it's time we forge our contracts," Dash announced almost imperiously.

"So, how do you form a contract-" Elle began, only for Dash to close the distance between himself and the Japanese man and kiss him on the lips.

Suzaku's eyes bulged at the action while Dash simply looked nonchalant.

* * *

_Light flared before his eyes, all around him. He saw two planets before him, and Dash's silhouette flashed a few times,_

This power will isolate you from humanity. Do you accept this contract?

* * *

His eyes snapped open and Suzaku fell backwards on the couch, eyes wide. Elle rushed to his side, while Dash looked thoughtful.

"So that's how it feels to make a contract," he said softly.

The boy simply looked down at his feet.

Elle looked at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Suzaku's hand covered his face.

"... so this is geass," he whispered, his fingers gently tracing the area around his left eye. It felt so strange, like his eye was almost on fire, but not.

Suzaku looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "But what's with the kiss?"

However, the raven-haired immortal simply ignored him.

"Now for you, Mrs. Kururugi," Dash addressed Elle.

Elle nodded slightly before Dash kissed her as well. After a second, she withdrew, looking very surprised before her hand involuntarily came to her face.

"Congratulations, Suzaku and Mariel Kururugi," Dash said, "you have been graced with the power of the King and Queen."

As he said this, he remembered that one time...

* * *

_He was driving the cart through the countryside, CC relaxing in the back on the hay, her items spread around her._

_"... I said that geass was the power of the King, which would condemn them to eternal solitude," she suddenly said._

CC?

_"But it seems that I was incorrect," she said, "right, Lelouch?"_

* * *

There was no sound from the occupants for a good few minutes before Suzaku broke it.

"So, are you just going to take us to the past right now, or what?" he asked.

"What, no! Of course not!" Dash said, looking surprised.

"We have much to do before then; we need to gather as much information about the battles and events of 2017 to 2018 as possible! You can't just go off of memory, it's been far too long to recall exactly what happened! I'm talking dates, events, forces of men and Knightmare frames both friend and enemy, as well as blueprints of the current knightmare frames and energy sources. And don't forget to find out who to awaken; remember, they can't be anyone who has children or is expecting!"

Suzaku and Elle sweat-dropped as Dash continued to ramble on. But he was right; they needed information about those two years and as much of it as possible.

"Right then!" Dash suddenly got up and rushed out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Suzaku exclaimed, going after him with Elle right behind him.

"I've got some stuff that'll be useful for time traveling! I'll meet back with you guys in about a month, that's plenty of time for you to get everything ready to go!" he replied back as he opened he main door.

"And remember," Dash said before he left, "the 'raven is like a writing desk' analogy is easy to figure out if you own your own demon-summoning sponge and star!"

And the door closed. Suzaku and Elle stared at it for a good ten minutes, expression of incredulous disbelief and bemusement still etched on their faces.

"Well, um," Elle said, eye twitching slightly, "I'm going to go bother Lloyd and the others. I can definitely get blueprints for the Knightmare frames and the new energy cores and sources from them."

With that, she went upstairs to the bedroom, where her laptop was, to contact the other four engineers, leaving Suzaku and the boy alone in the hallway. The brunette turned to the boy, who stiffened at his gaze and looked away. Suzaku's eyes softened.

_He looks so alone..._

"Hey," Suzaku addressed the boy, prompting him to look up, "do you want something to eat? You must be hungry from traveling to get here."

The boy nodded slightly before following Suzaku to the kitchen. The Japanese man took the now lukewarm breakfast and set some of it in the microwave for about a minute. After the timer went off, Suzaku removed the items and set the food in front of the boy.

He picked up a fork and knife and began to eat the eggs, pancakes and bacon laid out, chewing slowly but with relish. Elle's cooking was really good, after all. The boy cleared the platter in about five minutes.

"Are you still hungry?" Suzaku asked.

The boy shook his head, smiling softly now.

"Say, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but can you talk at all?" the brunette finally got out.

"I can talk, but it's usually if only people ask me to," the boy finally spoke up.

"Do you need anything at all?"

"No, thank you for asking, though. But Sir Dash is right, you do need to get information," the boy stated.

The brunette nodded slightly. They only had a month, so they had better get ready.

"Do you know what your name is?" Suzaku asked the boy suddenly.

"Even if I did, I don't remember it," the boy said, shaking his head.

"... would you like to pick a name to use, until you remember your own?"

The boy looked at Suzaku in surprise.

"I can't just not call you 'you' all the time, now can I?" Suzaku said, smiling slightly.

"... I guess so," the boy said softly, "but I don't know any good names and I don't want to copy someone's name."

They remained silent for a few moments.

"What do you think of Rai?" Suzaku suddenly suggested.

The bow blinked. "Why 'Rai'?"

"It's an incredibly unused name. I heard the name when I was young, but when I asked my Sensei about it, he said that it wasn't widely used because of an event hat happened in Japan a few centuries ago years in the past, but said nothing more about it," Suzaku explained.

The boy looked thoughtful. "... it does sound like a nice name. And I've never been given a name before."

He smiled. "Okay then, I'm Rai."

* * *

It was as if no time had passed before the month passed.

The four of them stood in the den around the coffee table, which was covered in Knightmare (and all of it's components) and weapon blueprints (Elle's), papers depicting dates, photographs and descriptions of major events (Suzaku's), entire packets with the perceptions of those part of the Zero Requiem conspiracy (Suzaku and Elle collaboration, it was NOT easy) and every major battle between the Black Knights and Britannia, even when Lelouch vi Britannia was emperor, including the number of knightmare frames, weapons and men on each side (Dash's). There were also four satchels on the table as well.

"How did you get all of this again? It's protected be the highest security known to man," Elle asked, which Dash only smirked evilly.

Suzaku's eye twitched slightly.

Dash's code glowed brightly under his bangs and he extended his hands over the papers and satchels, bathing them in cold red light, which receded after a few seconds.

"Now, they'll be able to come back with us when we travel," Dash said, retracting his hands.

"Hey, Dash," Elle suddenly said as she held out her left hand and Suzaku's left hand as well, "can you do these as well?"

"Your wedding rings? I don't know..." Dash said.

"Please."

_Elle..._

Dash still looked apprehensive, but he still extended the protection over the two rings anyways. "Just don't anyone see them, or it might trigger a memory."

She nodded before taking the satchel with the blueprints. Rai had the event papers, Suzaku took the Zero Requiem perspectives, and Dash, the battle schismatics.

"Everyone, this is your last chance to back out, because once this gets underway, there's no turning back until I get back my power," Dash said with an extremely serious expression.

Suzaku's fists clenched.

_Lancelot._

_"Zero's" offer._

_Mao._

_The SAZ zone._

_Euphimia._

_The Black Rebellion._

_Becoming the Knight of Seven._

_Shirley._

_The Kururugi shrine._

_F.L.E.I.J.A._

_And..._

His best friend's face flashed before his eyes as Suzaku said with a determined voice, "I won't back out."

"I didn't spend the month busting my ass to turn back now," Elle stated, a wry smile on her face.

Rai said nothing but his expression clearly showed he wasn't going to say no.

Dash nodded. "All right then; every one hold hands and click their heels three times- I'm joking!"

Suzaku held Elle's hand, while she linked hers with Rai, who held onto Dash's, whose other hand gripped Suzaku's other hand. Dash's bangs parted, revealing his code as it glowed brilliantly. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he looked like he was about to collapse except for his vice-like grips on Suzaku and Rai's hands.

The air became tension-riddled, as if it would collapse in on the occupants at any moment. Then, lights began to dance all around them, swirling like a hurricane.

Suzaku felt many emotions shock through him during this: hatred, anger, fear, anguish, grief, happiness, nostalgia, exasperation, and so many others of different shades, he couldn't place a name on them. He couldn't breath, his chest tightening as the swirling became faster and faster.

And...

* * *

Lelouch vi Britannia could have been in a worse mess.

During the drive back from some gambling, he and Rivalz were nearly run over by a truck, which a few seconds, nearly crashed after they went through an intersection. Disgusted by the people who were just standing around and not even attempting to help, he went to check on the truck himself, only to fall into the cargo hold.

If that wasn't bad enough, it turned out that the truck belonged to terrorists (he still couldn't figure who that red-haired girl was) and were being pursued by the military. They even had a Glasgow, which the red-haired girl took and fought against them, even though it was a futile fight; there was too much difference in experience, numbers and technology.

Now, he was by the object the terrorists had stolen; a giant steel canister, supposedly containing poisonous gas. He felt over the smooth container, wondering just why the military had gone so ballistic over it.

"Put your hands in the air and turn around," a voice said behind him.

He stiffened but put his hands up and turned around. It was a Britannian soldier who instructed him. A scowl crossed over his face involuntarily.

"Lelouch..."

Lelouch stiffened as his name slipped through the soldier's lips.

_Damn it, does he recognize me?! Wait, why did he address me in such a manner if he knows I'm royalty?_

Their hands went to his helmet and took it off. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

Lelouch's eyes widened. "Suzaku, what- what are you doing in the military?!" he asked, in disbelief.

It didn't make any sense; why was his best friend working for the same nation who committed such atrocities against his country?!

"It's kind of a long story," Suzaku said, looking a little sheepish, "but I'm-"

Then, light flared from the canister. The next second, Suzaku covered Lelouch's mouth and nose with his gas mask, pinning him down protectively. It opened up, revealing a woman with lime green hair and butter yellow eyes, wearing a Britannian prison suit. She slumped and fell out of the canister.

"So it wasn't gas after all," Suzaku said softly before a frown crossed his face, "I knew it."

_Wait, what?_

Suzaku ignored Lelouch's expression and walked over to the woman and began to undo her bonds. Lelouch joined a moment later and helped him.

"What did you mean, that you knew it wasn't poisonous gas?" Lelouch asked after they propped her up against the truck.

"Because with the way that the Britannian military works, there's no way they'd cause this much trouble over a single canister of gas when they can easily make more of it, after all," Suzaku replied simply.

Then, lights flashed from behind them, the glare clearly from flashlights.

"You damned monkey! Even Britannians haven't been allowed to look or touch that thing!"

Lelouch stiffened at the sight of the men behind them, all wearing Britannian military uniforms. The brunette grimaced as he rose and looked back at the group of men, specifically his unit leader.

"Well that's probably a good thing, considering it's contents, even if it was actually gas," Suzaku said in an indifferent tone, narrowing his eyes at the loathsome men before him.

"How dare you!" the officer growled angrily.

"That's rich coming from someone who would easily kill even his own countrymen and get away with it just because he's in a position of power," Suzaku said, disgust in his eyes, "scum like you is the reason Britannia's so corrupted."

Lelouch would have been impressed with his friend's defiance, if they weren't being held at gun point.

"You filthy-!" the lower officers started to draw their guns but the lead waved them down, his eyebrow and mouth twitching slightly.

"For a Number, you've certainly got an impudent tongue, haven't you?" he sneered.

Suzaku simply gave a shrug.

"Still, you've got quite a bit of courage. So, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself," the officer continued before handing Suzaku a firearm and pointed to Lelouch, "Kururugi, kill the terrorist."

Lelouch stiffened as Suzaku took the pistol from the officer and turned around.

_He's not really going to do it, is he?!_ Lelouch thought, feeling cold fear take a hold of him.

He couldn't die here, especially by his best friend's hand. What would become of Nunnally?

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The officer snapped, "you swore allegiance to Britannia, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," the Japanese male said, his upper face shadowed.

Lelouch stared at him, incredulous shock and clear hurt and fear on his face. He as about to yell at Suzaku for all he was worth before Suzaku flashed him a soft smile and spoke three words, all in perfect Japanese.

_"Get down, Lelouch."_

Suzaku looked to take a step forward, before he turned around and held the barrel of the pistol to the officer's head and fired. The man went down a second later.

"Suzaku-!" Lelouch gasped, eyes wide.

"You son of a bitch!" one of the men snarled, firing his gun.

Lelouch grabbed the woman and pinned them both down on the ground as the air was filled with bullets. He wasn't sure how long it went on for before there was silence again. He lifted his head, only to gasp at the sight.

Around his best friend were the corpses of the officers, some shot, some with oddly- placed necks, many of their expressions was of disbelief that a Number was going to kill him.

Suzaku turned back to Lelouch, his expression still gently.

"I'm sorry about that, Lelouch; but I couldn't let you die here," Suzaku said simply, smiling softly.

Despite himself, Lelouch's expression softened and nodded. "Thank you."

At that, Suzaku slumped onto his knees. Lelouch rushed to his side and Suzaku brought his hand to his stomach. His hand came back red.

"Suzaku-!"

"Go. You have to get out of here," Suzaku hissed, in clear pain.

"I won't leave you here; we can escape together!" Lelouch protested, almost frantically.

He couldn't leave him here, not after they had just reunited! But Suzaku just grabbed the collar of his uniform, bringing him within inches of his best friend's face.

"Listen to me: you have more of a chance to escape without me weighing you down, you know that. Besides," at this, Suzaku's expression became deadly serious and determined, "I'm not going to die here, or anytime soon. All right?"

Lelouch looked anguished but he knew that Suzaku was right. He nodded a moment later. Then, Suzaku shakily took the satchel from around his shoulder and handed it to Lelouch.

"Don't- don't look at the contents, no matter what. Swear."

"Suzaku, I-"

"DO IT."

Lelouch was a little more than startled but nevertheless, said, "I, Lelouch, swear I won't look at this satchel's contents, no matter what."

Suzaku smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Lelouch nodded and went over to the woman and helped her up.

"Live."

Lelouch stiffened at the obvious command before he took the woman with him and it became silent again.

* * *

When the whirring had stopped, Rai had ended up in a dark room. He still had the satchel around his shoulder.

_I wonder where the other three are and if they're safe as well,_ Rai thought, before a worried expression crossed his face.

_Please, Suzaku and Mariel, please be alive and okay._

Just then, the doors to the room opened up, light spilling in and nearly blinding Rai. Before him was a red Glasgow.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" the pilot barked, the voice of a young woman.

_This must be Kallen Kouzuki,_ Rai realized, _Lelouch referred to her as Q-1 in this battle and many others. She's one of our allies._

"I'm an ally; you've all ready met my comrade, yes? He called you Woman of the Glasgow," Rai called up.

He could imagine Kallen Kouzuki stiffening before she replied, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Rai frowned; if they wasted any more time, then things were going to escalate out of control...

"You don't, but whether you believe me or not, I will help you achieve victory," Rai said.

There were a few more seconds of silence before Kallen Kouzuki finally said, "If you really are an ally, then get up and fight!"

Rai nodded. "Understood."

He jumped up onto one of the blue robots and climbed into the cockpit. He took out the password paper and the makeshift key in his satchel, and started up the Sutherland.

_Okay, these are the controls for the arms and legs, the weapon controls look all right,_ Rai mentally checked the Frame before he followed Kallen out of the cargo hold.

Just then, five other people entered the cargo bay as well and got into the Sutherlands as well, their chatter buzzing over the airwaves.

_The original members of the Black Knights,_ Rai thought as he viewed them through his screen, _the man with the afro is Kaname Ohgi, the two with blue hair are Kento Sugiyama and Naomi Inoue respectively, the man with glasses is Yoshikita Minami, the serious looking man is Toru Yoshida, and the red-haired man with the facial hair is Shinichiro Tamaki._

"Woman in the Glasgow," a new voice said, making Rai stiffen, "stay where you are; your unit will act as decoy, understood?"

"I got it!" Kallen Kouzuki confirmed.

"What's your energy filter status?"

"I've got fifteen minutes left."

"Recharge it now. I'll contact you in ten minutes for your next instructions."

The radio went silent then, as Kallen began to refill the Glasgow's energy filter. Rai remained quiet as well, deep in thought.

_So that was Lelouch vi Britannia. He sounds like Sir Dash, only a lot less quirky and very serious. _

One thing Rai could not deny about either was the confidence int heir voices; they both sounded so utterly sure of themselves, it was almost frightening.

In no time, the ten minutes were up.

"Woman in the Glasgow," Lelouch vi Britannia said, "are you ready?"

"I have a name, you know!" Kallen snapped at him.

"That is a given, but since I don't know your name and I can't keep referring to you as 'Woman of the Glasgow', I'll give you a codename; you're Q-1 now, all right?"

"All right," Kallen Kouzuki agreed.

He gave each of the others their respective codenames, except for Rai, since he just joined.

"Hey," Kallen Kouzuki suddenly said, "you left out the other one."

_Uh oh._

"The other one, you said?" Lelouch vi Britannia said, Rai clearly sensing the confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, silver hair, blue eyes, satchel, he said he's an ally of yours," Kallen Kouzuki continued.

There was a few seconds of tense silence, Rai feeling very nervous.

_This is bad; he knows I'm not an actual ally, but if he doesn't provide an answer-_

"He is U-1," Lelouch vi Britannia said.

_U for 'unknown'_, _probably_, Rai thought, sighing with relief.

"Aren't these codenames for chess pieces?" Kallen Kouzuki brought up, making Rai's face slam into the dashboard.

"Wait, so if I'm P-5..." Shinichiro Tamaki realized before snapping, "I ain't nobody's pawn!"

"Shut it, Tamaki, they're only nicknames!" Kallen Kouzuki snapped before talking to Lelouch vi Britannia, "and since you guys are pawns and knights and whatnot and I'm the queen, then it's safe that you're the king, right?"

"... for the lack of a better name, yes, you may call me K-1," he finally said.

"As much as I would love for this completely relevant conversation to continue," Rai said, his eyebrow twitching, "may I remind you all the fact that we are in the _middle of a battlefield?!"_

After that, they all went back out. Lelouch vi Britannia instructed Kallen Kouzuki to draw the Britannian Sutherlands into an ambush. Sure enough, two knightmare frames came her way, only for a squad of Sutherlands to be destroyed by the others. The creen displayed it as "LOST". Soon, there were more and more "LOST" showing up all over the screen.

However, the IFF codes were soon changed and Rai couldn't see them anymore.

"Don't worry," Lelouch vi Britannia said through the walkie talkie, "my Sutherland has all the codes and I can still see their units!"

Rai nodded slightly, even though he knew no one could see him. Then, he heard a movement behind. There was a Sutherland aiming for him! Acting on instinct, Rai turned around and fired rapidly at the legs, destroying the joints and causing it to fall. Soon enough, another few Sutherlands came out, trying to take him down. Acting, Rai sped away from their fire. Wielding his stun tonfa, Rai charged at the closest Sutherland, slashing it across it's chest before dodging another attempted fire from another Sutherland, causing it's bullets to hit the first Sutherland.

_Okay, I cut it a little close there,_ Rai thought, grimacing.

The Sutherland fired at him again, but Rai dodged, speeding up the land-spinners before firing the slash-harkens. While these would only scratch or throw a Sutherland off balance, the short distance made the projectiles slash right through the cockpit of the Sutherland, making it explode.

_I just killed someone_, Rai realized, before wondering, _is it bad if I feel nothing?_

The third Sutherland charged straight at him, wielding their stun tonfas. Rai met the clash, blocking the weapon easily before they tried to slash at him again. He sped backwards, firing his assualt rifle and forcing the other backwards before he charged at the Sutherland and slashed its head off with his stun tonfas before firing his assualt rifle again, making it crumble onto the ground.

"Whoa," one of the resistance members said softly.

"Did you see him?! He just too out three Sutherlands all by himself!" another said.

"He might be even better than Kallen..." another said.

It took Rai a moment to realize that they were talking about _him_.

"Does anyone have a map of the old settlement?" Lelouch Britannia asked.

"I do," Kallen Kouzuki said, "but it doesn't have any of the current landmarks."

"It'll do," he said, "and with this, I'll call check."

"What do you mean 'check'?!" Shinichiro Tamaki snapped, "this isn't some game!"

_Ignore, ignore_, Rai simply told himself as he got into his position. In just a few minutes, the Sutherlands gathered into place and-

Rai's eyes widened as the collapsed street swallowed up the Frames, his hands shaking slightly. He knew that Lelouch vi Britannia was planning to move inot check, but this-!

"Forget about check," Kaname Ohgi spoke Rai's own thoughts, "this guy could make check-mate."

Rai's radio cackled a few seconds later, an odd sound coming from it. It took another few seconds for Rai to realize what the noise was.

Laughter. It was mad, loud, and so blatantly, utterly triumphant.

Rai briefly remembered when he was first awoken by Sir Dash; it was the same laughter he heard that day.

_Sir Dash..._

"K-1! There's something-" the voice on the radio that stopped ominously snapped Rai out of it.

Rai glanced up and almost gasped. He had seen pictures of it, but it did nothing to compare to the real Lancelot.

_So that's the Frame that Suzaku pilots._

It was sleek, polished, and so powerful looking. White and gold were it's prominent colors and it sped through the Sutherlands and sliced them apart like a hot knife with butter-

"U-1, do you copy?!" Kallen Kouzuki's voice broke through Rai's marveling and he snapped to attention.

"Q-1, are you all right?" Rai asked quickly.

"Not for long, if that bastard catches us!" she snapped.

That's right! Even if it's just an act, Suzaku still has to pilot like he did before!

"Q-1, we can't let him get K-1!" Rai shouted as the Lancelot suddenly aimed a roundhouse kick at another Sutherland.

Kallen Kouzuki acted quickly, getting between the two Knightmare frames and holding off the Lancelot for however brief a time before Lelouch vi Britannia escaped. After he made her eject out of the Glasgow, the building by him began to collapse and Rai caught a glimpse of a woman and child beginning to fall. But the Lancelot jumped up and caught them both before they fell. When he set them down, the woman screamed and ran away, dragging her son with her.

_Well to be fair, it IS a giant white and gold monstrosity in their eyes_, Rai thought, slightly sweat-dropping.

Taking this opportunity, he slipped out of his Sutherland and ran away from the scene, clutching the satchel to him. Eventually, he caught sight of the others by a warehouse that held many other frightened people. It seemed that a fight was started.

"Tamaki, enough!" Kallen Kouzuki snapped at the other, gripping his rifle and glaring sternly at the man, "they're Japanese just like the rest of us!"

She turned to the people huddled there. "We know that many died because of our actions, but more would have followed if we didn't act! We're going to get you all out of here, so please don't worry!"

Rai was deeply impressed by the red-head now.

_It's no wonder that he refers to her as Q-1._

His thoughts were interrupted as one of the walls came crashing down, a tank rolled in, along with dozens of Britannain soldiers, aiming their guns at everyone. Rai stiffened as dread slashed through him. Had Lelouch vi Britannia been too late? Were they going to die here?

_Suzaku, Mairel...!_ Rai gritted his teeth, willing his eyes not to close in fear-

"Attention all forces, cease fire at once!"

Rai looked up as the voice continued. "I, Clovis la Britannia, 3rd prince and Vicroy of Area 11, hereby command that all forces are to cease fire as well as destruction of property and buildings! All casualties, be their Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated with equality and with no prejudice. I will not allow any further fighting today!"

The silver-haired boy breathed a short sigh of relief as the other Japanese and the resistance members were escorted away. But even now, Rai couldn't help shaking a little. He had nearly died back there; it wasn't something he'd like to repeat.

"Rai."

He jumped at the voice, turning around to see a young man with his hair tucked in and sunglasses. But he knew that voice anywhere.

"Sir Dash?" he whispered back as they continued walking.

"Yeah; I see you've gotten acquainted with Naoto Kouzuki's resistance," he said, smiling slightly, "what do you think?"

"They're very determined," Rai answered back, "especially Kallen Kouzuki."

Sir Dash nodded. "Yeah, having your brother killed by Britannians can make you quite the determinator."

"Where's Mariel? And where have you been?" Rai asked, suddenly remembering the young woman.

"Back at Suzaku's apartment; I found her by Ashford and we manged to find his place and sneak in," Sir Dash explained, "as for myself, I landed near the Vicroy's command center and managed to sneak around a bit. We'll go back to Suzaku's apartment and wait for the news."

Rai nodded. "Understood."

"And on a separate note," at this, Dash smiled, "we have two allies now."

* * *

For those who might complain about the characters being so Genre Savvy, _you don't just go off into the past without knowing what you're doing or going to change!_

Dead-pan snarker! Suzaku is going to be awesome later.

Rai is quite the pilot, no?

And who are these two allies?

I don't own Code geass or its characters. You all know this.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuzuki Inohara: Glad you like it!

Hoshi no Ookamiden 217: I glad you like it and that you think it's awesome!

Just wait; it'll definitely get better.

I don't own Code Geass; you'd know if I did.

* * *

Elle groaned.

It had been nearly two hours since Dash had found her at Ashford Academy and left her in Suzaku's old apartment. At first she had been annoyed by how much time he was taking, but now she was getting worried as she watched the sun begin to go down.

_Dash can take a killing or two or three, but Rai and Suzaku could get hurt or worse out there. Damn it; why did I let him talk me into staying here?! "Suzaku wouldn't want you to get hurt", he says. "You'll thank me later," he says!_

"Damn you, Dash!" Elle snapped, flailing slightly on the bed before she slapped a hand over her mouth.

_None of the other occupants know I'm here, I gotta keep quiet!_

She glanced over at her satchel, which was lying by the bedside. She had all ready gone over the blueprints and notes twice now to avert her boredom. She wondered vaguely what to do with the plans once things would get under way.

_There are some possible roads here,_ Elle thought, _either forward these to Rakshata to incorporate them into her Knightmare frames early, make them myself, or get Lloyd and Cecile to make them in secret._

While Elle would normally scratch out options two and three if anywhere else, she knew that if Lloyd and Cecile were to be awoken, she could get them both to help her, and she could get Rai to get the materials she needed.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. She went over to it cautiously and rapped twice on the door, before giving two more smacks on it. Three normal, three bangs, then a tap followed from the other side. Elle sighed with relief and unlocked the door, revealing Rai and Dash.

"Where's Suzaku?" she asked as she closed the door.

"Lloyd and Cecile insisted keeping him at the compound over night because of his wound," Dash answered.

"How do you know this?"

"He awoke them," Rai replied, "when he came to this timeline, he landed near the compound they were in."

Elle blinked in surprise. "So soon?"

"Why not? Lloyd is a genius and so is Cecile, in her own right. Besides, they're the ones who designed Lancelot and know every inch of the machine. Since Suzaku can't slack off, then they'll just have to limit the Lancelot a bit," Dash said, smiling.

"And they agreed to this?"

"Sort of..."

* * *

_Dash breathed in deeply. His break-in could have gone better; now there were a couple dozen guards stuffed in the various odd ends of the compound._

_Of all the places to wind up, it just had to be in the middle of the next company of soldiers going out to Shinjuku!_

_ He wasn't even able to see their faces, which he was sure would have held the shell-shocked gapes of confusion and bewilderment that would make his day just a bit better. Still, he wasn't complaining; he had gotten inside the compound were it was less safe so that was good._

_... wait, something about that description is off._

_... nope, it's fine._

_He wandered around the compound for a while,until he found the door he was looking for. He took out the various key cards he had pocketed from the guards and tried them in it until one had the right clearance and opened it up, revealing the room._

Bingo, it's it.

_The Lancelot was coming back in, in all it's white and gold glory. Lloyd and Cecile were by the control panel before the cockpit opened, revealing Suzaku._

_"Well, how was it Suzaku?" Cecile asked._

_"It's incredible, truly," Suzaku answered as he stepped down onto the ground before he winced slightly._

_"Is your wound...?"_

_Suzaku simple shook it off. "It's fine; it didn't hit anywhere vital and I didn't lose much blood."_

_"Splendid! Absolutely splendid!" Lloyd chirped, slapping Suzaku on the back suddenly, "at last, we have a perfect devicer for Lancelot! The readings re off the charts!"_

_Dash smiled before he stepped inside, clapping._

_"Well well, it's good to see you, Suzaku! How'v you been?" he said cheerfully._

_Suzaku looked surprised. "When did you get here?"_

_"Oh, just a minute ago, when I was trying to figure out when to make my big damn entrance," Dash said off-handily._

_"Wait, who is this, and how did he get in here?!" Cecile exclaimed while Lloyd looked at the immortal with an interested expression._

_Dash glanced over at the two scientists. __A grin graced his lips and his code burned with power as he addressed them._

_"Cecile Croomy, Lloyd Apslund, Awaken."_

_Lloyd and Cecile's eyes became ringed with cold red as Dash spoke. After a few seconds, it cleared up and both scientists were back on Earth._

_"Wha-what the-?!" Cecile choked in shock._

_"..." Lloyd remained silent, but he looked a bit startled too._

_Suzaku stared at him. "You woke them up?"_

_Dash nodded, smiling._

_Cecile turned to Suzaku. "What just happened? How did we get here, Suzaku?" she asked shakily._

_"Would this have to do with those questions Lubie was bombarding us and the information she stole?" Lloyd said, raising an eyebrow._

_Suzaku frowned. "Well..."_

_..._

_"So, you made a contract with him and went back in time with your wife and a geass user with a power similar if not more powerful than his majesty's, is that the gist of it then?" Lloyd summarized._

_Dash nodded. "More or less."_

_"Ad you want us to help?" Cecile said._

_"If you can. In fact, it might help us succeed in many ways."_

_Suzaku blinked. "What do you mean?"_

_"You can't afford to slack off, especially in your position, otherwise they might suspect you're working for Zero or someone else. So the only way to help him succeed would be to limit Lancelot, if only by a little bit," Dash said._

_"Out of the question!" Lloyd snapped suddenly, standing up._

_"I won't allow you to tamper and/or, and especially, weaken with my Lancelot, even if it's to help his majesty!"_

_"_Our_ Lancelot, honey..." Cecile said in a low voice, her aura becoming dark as she addressed her husband._

_"Besides, I have intentions of awakening Kallen Kouzuki, and Elle will definitely tinker it. Who knows, we might not have to do anything with it!" Dash remarked cheerfully._

* * *

"I don't need to know every last detail, Dash," Elle said, smiling slightly at the man's enthusiasm.

"When will we be able to meet with Suzaku again?" Rai asked.

"I'd say after his Majesty rescues him. I wonder how it'll go this time 'round," Elle said, looking thoughtful.

"I wonder as well; now, Suzaku is more weary of the world and he's all ready lost his naivety years ago, it seems. He can't join him, though," Dash said.

Elle nodded. If Suzaku were to join him, then the Honorary Britannians would suffer by the hands of the Purist Faction. Which brought up the question-

"Why didn't you awaken Gottwald?" Elle asked Dash.

"There was no time; he didn't come out of his Knightmare frame throughout all of this and I wasn't able to get close enough to awaken him anyways. I all ready risked a lot, awakening Lloyd and Cecile; just ask the thirty-six guards I ran into and then proceeded to stuff into the odd ends of the compound. I may be immortal, but I'm neither perfect nor invincible," Dash frowned, crossing his arms.

Elle looked down. "Sorry about that, Dash. I was a little out of line there."

"Eh, it's fine."

"It'd be best if you awaken him soon, though; the things I've heard of Jeremiah Gottwald are truly astounding and he would be an incredible ally to have," Rai admitted.

Dash nodded. "That is a given."

There was a few minutes of silence between the three time-travelers. Awkward, muddled silence.

"... what are we going to do tomorrow?" Rai asked.

"We could go to Ashford Academy to awaken Kallen and the others," Elle suggested.

"Not too soon, though," Dash said, "if they act out of character, it might make my nephew suspicious and make him use his geass."

"But if we do it too late, then we could miss the chance to use their respective talents and knowledge," Elle pointed out.

"Perhaps we should awaken Kallen Kouzuki first," Rai suggested, "it would be an advantage to have her in the light, especially with cooperating with Lelouch vi Britannia and on the battlefield."

"Good idea, kiddo," Dash remarked, "we also need to get Suzaku's satchel from Lelouch as well."

"And we also need to get started on the Knightmare frames," Elle brought up.

"That is definitely one of our top priorities," Rai said, sounding a bit excited, "with power like that, the Black Knights would definitely have an edge over Britannia!"

Dash chuckled. "You really got into Knightmare battling, eh?"

Rai looked down, face a bit pink.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed about; it's nice to see you show such enthusiasm!"

"When we're contacted by Kyoto, I could give Rakshata these blueprints and help her make them," Elle said.

"We'd have to join the Black Knights, then," Dash said, before shrugging, "which none of us have any problem with."

"If he will let us join," Rai pointed out suddenly.

"He'd have no choice; as someone who preaches equality, he'd be a hypocrite not to let us join," Dash said, before his fist plumped into his other palm, "we should also get the two of you enrolled into Ashford; it'll make it more convenient for you two to observe Lelouch and his friends, as well as making contact with Suzaku."

"Okay, now we seriously need to sleep now," Elle announced, clapping her hands before pointing to the now dark skies.

"Is it really that late all ready? Huh," Dash remarked.

"We better get to bed now," Rai said.

"I'm commandeering the bed," Elle said, spreading herself over the furniture.

"Well then, we'll take the floor," Dash said, sweat-dropping.

Rai shrugged.

He and Rai laid down on the floor with some spare sheets and a pillow each and before long, the three of them drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Dash smiled. This was really fun.

He strolled through the Academy grounds leisurely, ignoring the stares given to him as he hummed under his breath. Of course, he was wearing a pretty good disguise; his hair was tucked back into a base-ball cap, blue-tinted glasses, a dark teal jacket, black turtle-neck tank top, grey jeans and black shoes. It was enough to conceal his general features, but not enough that people might not recognize him. That was part of the point of this all.

"Excuse me, random student," he addressed a student with brown hair and soft-looking dear-like eyes, (_Is it a him? I don't even know,_) "but do you know where I can find Kallen Statfeld?"

The student looked at him like he was a freak (Dash was used to it), but they still said, "I don't really know, she's not around a lot because of she's kind of sickly, but if she were, she's be eating lunch outside."

Dash grinned. "Thanks."

He almost skipped off to the courtyard and looked around for the young woman. Really, how hard was it to find a fiery red-head around these mundane little children?

_Hm?_

He noticed a little bee hovering by him. He smiled slightly as it settled on his arm.

"Hi there, little one," he said softly before it flew away towards some female students eating lunch.

When it was noticed, many in the group shrieked before running away from it.

_There!_

Kallen Kouzuki rushed behind some bushes, leaning over to catch her breath as the bee buzzed by her, only for a scowl to cross her face and her hand moved in flash and the bee went down, sliced neatly in half.

"God, I'm so sick of pretending to be an invalid!" she almost snarled as she bit into her sandwich.

Dash took a moment to mourn the little creature before he saw Lelouch approach the pilot. He quickly hid inside the bushes and spied on his future ally and maternal nephew. Kallen quickly set back on her sickly facade and asked what was up with him.

"I want answers," Lelouch said simply as his geass flared in his left eye.

Kallen's eyes dulled as cold red rings flickered around her irises and Lelouch began his interrogation. Dash silently blessed his luck that he hadn't awoken Kallen yet, otherwise she might have let something slip from the future.

"You're Britannian, so why fight against them?" he asked.

"It's true I am Britannian, but it's only through my father; my mother is Japanese," Kallen answered.

"But why go so far?"

"They killed my older brother, Naoto."

Then, the rings faded from her eyes and she snapped out of the geass. "I'm sorry, did you want something?"

"Nothing, just," Lelouch activated it again, "forget about Shinjuku."

Kallen stared at him. "What do you mean?"

He looked worried now. "Go back to class!"

"Not until you tell me what you mean!"

Dash sighed, huffing with an annoyed expression. Looks like he was stuck tailing them until opportunity presented itself.

_Ugh..._

* * *

"There we go."

Elle looked up from her forms on Suzaku's bed for Ashford Academy and glanced at Rai on the floor. The TV buzzed low, in case any note-worthy news came on. So far, nothing.

"How're you doing with your forms?" she asked.

"Fine, but," Rai said, "I don't think they'll accept me into the school if I put down this name. I mean, 'Rai' is Japanese and right now it's Area 11, so..."

"Ah yeah," Elle said, looking a little sad, "I'm sorry you won't be able to use your name."

"It's okay, I guess," Rai shrugged, "but I don't know what to put down here now."

"Just pick a random name!"

"But I don't which one."

Elle sighed exasperatingly. "So what, you want me to pick out your name then?"

"I guess so; unless I don't like it."

The bluenette rolled her eyes before thinking. What was a Britannian name that fit "Rai"? Then, it clicked.

"Ansel."

"Hm?"

"Your name, Ansel. Whaddya think?" Elle stated.

Rai looked thoughtful for a moment. "Isn't it a girl's name?"

"No, it's not. It's an awesome name and it means 'noble'," Elle replied, smiling.

That's when Rai saw the wetness shimmer against her golden-specked eyes.

"Was Ansel someone close to you?" he asked softly.

"... my big brother."

Rai glanced down, not willing to meet her gaze. He had heard of it briefly from Suzaku; her family was killed in Pendragon, thanks to the bomb F.L.E.I.J.A. that Schneizal used when he unleashed Damocles onto the world.

"I'm sorry," he said simply, not knowing what else to say.

Elle shook her head before she wiped away a beading tear from her left eye. "It's fine, really. He wouldn't want me to be sad for him."

Rai smiled softly, setting a hand on her shoulder. "... I don't know what to say now."

Elle blinked before she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as Rai looked down sheepishly.

"You're all right, kiddo," she giggled, ruffling his silver hair, "you're all right.

* * *

Jeremiah Gottwald was not having a good day.

The terrorists had not only managed to escape punishment and retribution during the purging of Shinjuku, but his highness, Prince Clovis la Britannia, had been killed by them as well. there were no clues, nothing that would suggest who killed him, even when the answer was obvious.

His highness had been found in his throne, eyes and mouth wide open, a single bullet hole through his forehead, his expression of fear and horror. There were many scenarios that could have gone on in such an assassination, but for the life of him, Jeremiah couldn't figure it out.

He had the entire compound probed, prodded, and otherwise turned upside down for any clues; finger prints, camera footage, anything. But nothing came up. And the thirty-six guards that he found stuffed in various closets, exhaust ports, and storerooms were of no help, for they somehow didn't remember who assaulted them in the first place. It was as if their memory of the incident had been wiped clean.

Meanwhile, the public was becoming increasingly riled, demanding for his highness's murderer to be brought to justice. If they didn't find the killer soon, then they'd start having to quell riots, and if the horror stories from the other Areas and especially the Homeland. were true, he really didn't want to have to deal with them.

In summation, the Purist Faction leader had a head-splitting ache in his cranium concerning the entire incident. However, this did nothing deaden his determination to find his highness's killer.

"My lord, are you all right?" Villeta Nu, his knight asked worriedly as they walked through the compound.

"Perhaps when we find his highness's killer," Jeremiah stated simply.

_And if we don't-_

Jeremiah shook his head; he wouldn't allow him to consider the possibility. He had to find his killer, not matter what. He remembered her; her midnight hair, lavender eyes, full smile further pronounced by red lipstick, indomitable spirit and unfailing kindness. His chest clenched painfully.

_Lady Marianne..._

"... ky that you're recovering this well, Suzaku," came Earl Apslund's voice.

Jeremiah stopped at the voices coming from the room he was about to pass. The only Suzaku he knew was the son of the former Japanese prime minister, whose name he didn't bother to learn, but he knew that he was a private the in the Britannian Military.

"My lord...?"

"Nu," he almost barked, snapping his knight to attention, "go to report to Kewell about the situation thus far."

"Yes my lord," Villeta said before turning away, knowing by the tone of her lord's tone, that it was no use arguing.

Jeremiah placed himself in front of the door, listening intently.

"He just got a lucky shot is all," the Eleven stated simply.

"Still, that was very reckless of you," Cecile Croomy admonished.

"I couldn't let them kill Lelouch, now could I? Besides, they were the ones out of line. He's my friend, and exiled or not, he's still technically royalty."

Jeremiah felt his blood freeze.

_Lelouch._

He was certain that was the name that the Eleven soldier used.

_Could it simply be coincidence?_

* * *

"I'd say; attacking an imperial prince, albeit an exiled one, is still punishable by death," Lloyd replied as he applied a small shot of pain-killing medicine into Suzaku's bloodstream.

Suzaku nodded absently, ignoring the slight pain from the needle. "I hope they get my satchel back from Lelouch. I know that he'll honor my promise, but there's always the chance someone might find it or he'll break down from curiosity and look through it."

"Do you really think he'll look through it, Suzaku?" Cecile asked, looking up from her laptop.

"I think he's more likely not to; he really wanted to honor our friendship, even when being Zero, he would always try to recruit me, even at his own expense," Suzaku said before a saddened frown crossed his face, "he was the better friend back then."

Cecile and Lloyd said nothing as they glanced at one another; what could they say to him? He was more or less right, when they compared how the two had treated one another back then, from reference and first-person.

Suzaku then smiled softly. "Not this time; I'll save him this time, and I will definitely help this time 'round."

Cecile smiled , as did Lloyd.

Just then, the door to the lab opened, revealing Jeremiah Gottwald. Suzaku stood to attention, not wanting to aggravate the man before him; he was all too aware of what Gottwald was like before Lelouch got him on his side.

"Ah, if it isn't Jerry!" Lloyd stated jovially, bowing exaggeratingly, "and may I ask what you are dong, visiting our humble lab?"

Gottwald then looked at Suzaku, a serious expression on his face. "This is an order from your superior and you are obligated to answer truthfully: what have you to do with Lelouch vi Britannia?"

Suzaku stiffened.

_Damn it! How much did he overhear?!_

* * *

_Finally!_

Dash had spent much less time following his nephew than he expected before an opening to awaken Kallen appeared; after his blue-haired friend Rivalz accident with the champagne and the young woman who had a crush the size of Britannia on Lelouch, Shirley tried to take it from him, to cork popped out, nearly hitting the red-head. While she batted it away at nearly light speed, it didn't stop the alchohol from drenching her all over.

Now, she was in the shower and Lelouch had gone to get some clothing for her. Except Dash was going in there first and awakening the young woman.

Dash breathed in slightly before he opened the door and entered the room, closing it behind him. He had only about a few minutes before Lelouch came back. The immortal man's face flushed slightly as he beheld the half-breed's figure behind the curtain.

_Keep it together, Dash,_ he chided as he approached the shower,_ just awaken her as quickly as possible before you might see something that makes her bash your head in._

"Lelouch, are you all ready back?" Kallen said, her voice still soft and weak.

Dash kept silent and approached the curtain one step at a time.

"L-lelouch, that is you, isn't it?" her voice had fear in it now, but Dash could hear the edge in it too.

Her hand slowly reached towards her pouch as Dash moved closer. Just a few more steps. His code glowed as he gathered up his power as his hand reached towards the curtain-

"Kallen? It's Lelouch, I'm coming in!" Lelouch's voice came from the other side of the door.

_DAMMIT! _

Dash frantically looked around for a hiding space, the door beginning to open.

Finally, he just dived to the space behind the door, flattening himself against the door as his nephew opened it up.

_Dammit, dammit! _Dash thought, breathing through his nose as quietly as he could, even though his lungs were screaming for larger quantities of air.

Lelouch opened the door, nearly going up against Dash's body, but stopped just before it actually touched him. Now, Dash really had to get out of there; he couldn't afford to be seen by his nephew yet. Not only would it lead him to investigate Dash, but he really didn't want to have to actually sit the young man down and explain that he was the-man-that-his-mother-almost-never-mentioned-but -said-that-he-and-Nunnally-weren't-supposed-to-cal l-him-"uncle"-anymore-for-unknown-reasons.

"Is he still in here?" Kallen asked, making Dash freeze further.

"'He' who?" Lelouch asked.

"There was someone in here before you came in here, but disappeared when you came in."

"Hmm."

Dash gritted his teeth, making his jaw ache.

_What now? I can't leave the academy yet, I still haven't gotten Suzaku's satchel back yet! But I can't just use my power, I'm drained as it is! Ugh..._

The next second, Lelouch pulled back the door, revealing Dash. "Who are you and what are you doing in here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

_Crapcrap, crap, think, THINK! Don't just stand there like a retarded puppy! Come up with something reasonable!_

"... I'm a member of STARS and I didn't know this was a bathroom," he finally got out.

_Well, that was the opposite of reasonable._

There was a few seconds silence before Lelouch said in a curt voice, "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave, Mr...?"

"Dash. And I apologize profusely to you, miss," Dash said quickly, glancing in Kallen's direction said before bowing slightly and without another word, almost bolted out of the room.

_Well, that could have gone worse,_ Dash thought, going down the hallway,_ and Lelouch and Nunnally don't use the dorms, they live in the Clubhouse on campus._

He walked down the hallway until he came to the door. His chest clenched slightly. He really hoped that his nephew was a good enough friend to his contractor that he didn't touch the satchel after he brought in back. He took out the keycard he created before they left from his satchel, his hand briefly brushing against an assortment of strange pens and other cards. He fitted the card into the slot and swished it down.

The door opened a second later and Dash walked in, locking the door behind him. The place was quite neat and fairly modest. It was just enough for the three living here. A soft smile touched his lips at the thought of his nephew and niece living such a gentle life, even with all the terrible crap around them and behind them.

_Slap!_

His hands came up to his face, slapping Dash's cheeks and him out of his thought.

_I came here to take back ridiculously important documents, not day-dream about big sis's kids_, he thought as he searched the dorm.

He opened another door, revealing what seemed to be Lelouch's room. A bed, a PC and desk and chair, a bookcase, and-

"Yes!" Dash whispered triumphantly as he picked up the satchel by Lelouch's bed.

He quickly leafed through it, revealed that there was nothing amiss in it.

_It's practically untouched,_ Dash realized, smiling, _Lelouch, you're a true friend; Suzaku's lucky to know you._

Then, he heard something beyond the door. Footsteps.

_Wait, how is anyone even here? Lelouch and Nunnally are back with the student council and CC hasn't gotten here yet- _

Then Dash remembered the other person that was always in their home.

_Fuck._

Dash frantically called up the power in the his code, begging it to get him out of there.

_Please please please, let me have enough power for this. I know I'm supposed to take it easy after time-traveling but-_

His body shimmered red, the scenery around him beginning to muddle as the door opened up before it totally disappeared, and a new scene began to form around him. Soon, it showed the inside of Suzaku's apartment and then, it became solid.

Then he fell flat on his face.

* * *

"Dash?!" Elle exclaimed in shock.

"Sir Dash!" Rai cried, going to his side.

Dash shuddered as the silver-haired boy gently sat him up. He breathed in slowly, before asking, "Rai, is all of me here?"

"Y-yes, but why would you ask such a thing?"

I just wanted to make sure I was intact," Dash answered, getting up slowly "The last time I tried teleporting, I actually left parts of me behind. I healed in the end, but still."

Elle looked a little sick at that. "Well, that's interesting."

Dash chuckled. "Don't I know it."

"Were you able to awaken Kallen Kouzuki?" Rai asked.

Dash frowned. "No, I wasn't; you've my nephew's terrible timing to thank for that," then a slight smile replaced the frown as he held up his nephew's satchel, "but I did get this."

"Suzaku's satchel," Rai realized, "but still..."

Elle smiled. "It's okay; we'll get another chance for her. Anyways," at that, she handed Dash their paperwork, "we filled these out and kept the TV on in case of any news."

Dash nodded. "Good work, both of you. Still, I doubt they'll accept these forms as is; you don't have the money or the back round for them to assess."

"Then what was the point of filling them out?!" Elle asked incredulously.

"You'll both still get in," Dash reassured, smiling, "because we'll have a benefactor to help us."

Rai blinked. "Who?"

Dash was about to open his mouth when the TV buzzed with life as the news came on. All three turned to it as the reporter spoke before it flipped to a group of men wearing grey suits with red trim and at the head, in front of a microphone, a man with teal hair, orange eyes, blue clothing and white gloves.

"We have apprehended Prince Clovis's murderer," he stated, "and he is being escorted to prison as we speak."

At this, they cut to Suzaku being escorted away by two Britannian foot-soldiers.

Elle growled under her breath. "Those fucking liars."

"Don't worry; Suzaku will be back with us soon. But now, we need to move faster," Dash stated, sounding urgent.

"They cracked down on Suzaku faster than expected. It took them at least a day more to make him a scapegoat."

"So then-" Rai began, before Elle cut him off, "- something's changed this timeline. But what?"

* * *

A bit slow this time 'round, but it'll speed up.

Ugh... poor Sollux, going blind, and Gamzee for going bat-shit insane, and Feferi, and Terezi, Tarvos and Equius for dying...

I added a bit more to the chapter after I realized that Dash forgot to get Suzaku's satchel.

Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

krikanalo: I'm glad you think so.

I was feeling emotionally stagnated and I needed to get it out of my system...

* * *

It took all of Lelouch's willpower not to show his utter anger and disgust and fear, yes fear, but kept his momentum casual as he went back to his room after the day ended.

Suzaku was alive, thank God, but now he was being used as a scapegoat for the regicide that _he_ had partaken in.

_Why, Suzaku?_ he thought for the umpteenth time ever since he had seen his old friend again, _why are you in the Britannian military?_

He entered his dorm, slightly relaxing as he laid eyes on his little sister, Nunnally.

"Brother, I heard the news, about Suzaku," she said softly, tears beginning to prick her closed eyes, "he didn't do it, I know he didn't."

Lelouch nodded as he gently hugged his little sister. "I know too; they probably made a mistake."

After another minute, the two let go of each other and Lelouch's mind began to race.

_They'll set up the trial so that Suzaku'll be found guilty, along with fake evidence. I can't let them kill him for my actions._

"Master Lelouch," Sayoko, the sibling's maid said softly, "I must speak with you."

Lelouch glanced up and walked over the Japanese woman. "What is it, Sayoko?"

"Someone broke into here earlier."

Lelouch's blood froze. "What?!" he nearly exclaimed, but kept his voice down so Nunnally didn't hear.

"When I was cleaning earlier, I heard footsteps. At first, I thought it was someone outside, but then I heard one of the doors open and close inside. I checked the rooms, but there was no one there, but the fact remains that someone was able to get into your home," Sayoko informed him with a serious expression.

"Did they take anything?" Lelouch asked softly, dread starting to seep into him.

"..."

Lelouch shot to his room and threw open the door. Sure enough, Suzaku's satchel was no longer by his bed-post. He quickly checked all around his bed and the rest of his room, but there was soon no denying the fact that it was gone.

"No way..." he choked out softly.

* * *

"We found this firearms, with your finger prints. Do you deny this?"

Kururugi remained silent, a neutral expression on his face. Jeremiah willed his annoyance and anger down as he continued to fire questions at the Honorary Britannian, but he kept silent, looking at Jeremiah patiently.

Jeremiah held back another eye-twitch, before he remembered their earlier meeting.

* * *

_"What do you know about Lelouch vi Britannia?"_

_The atmosphere turned tense around the three; Croomy looked scared, Apslund looked surprised, and Kururugi stiffened._

_"Answer me!" Jeremiah barked._

Why had he mentioned Prince Lelouch so casually, so... familiarly?

_Kururugi closed his eyes and breathed in before he spoke, his expression solemn._

_"I met them when they were sent to Japan as political hostages after Marianne vi Britannia was murdered. After a while, the three of us became friends. When Britannia invaded, we were separated. I met him again when the terrorist group who stole the gas appeared. However, I was ordered by my higher officers to kill him, even though he clearly wasn't a terrorist. I killed them to save him and let him escape."_

_Jeremiah's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; Lady Marianne's children were alive and safe, after all of this time? Questions began to shudder on his tongue, begging to be asked: where were they? How were they alive? Did they still wish to return home? Was there any reason why they couldn't return home?_

_However, when one pretends to be someone they aren't, they often become what they pretend to be. Jeremiah's questions died on his lips and he simply said, "A likely story."_

_"Do you really think you can fool me with such a facade, Jeremiah Gottwald?" Kururugi asked softly, his expression becoming serious, "Once upon a time, you were an honorable man, but now you've become part of the scum of Britannia-"_

_Jeremiah's eye flashed and anger welled in him at the insult. "Shut your-"_

_"- and I can't even imagine what Marianne vi Britannia would say if she saw you right now."_

_That snapped him and Jeremiah let his fist fly, making contact with the Eleven's jaw, knocking him to the floor. He couldn't even think of what to call the young man before him, bewildered rage stopping his mind and lips._

_Kururugi got back on his feet and met the nobleman's eyes. Jeremiah was taken back by the fire in them; it wasn't anger, but determination. This boy before him knew he was telling the truth and had absolute confidence in himself. He almost let his gaze drop to the ground to avoid the emerald irises, but kept his gaze._

_"Do you even want to be apart of those men?" he asked softly, wiping a bit of blood from his lips, "To be responsible for painting the country you know and love as a center of tyranny, Jeremiah Gottwald?"_

_Jeremiah stared at Kururugi before he slammed his fist on the intercom. "Guards, to Apslund's lab! Prince Clovis's murderer has been found!" he practicality bellowed into the com._

_Kururugi simply looked at him. "You really shouldn't have done that; by the time my execution begins, you'll wish you hadn't acted so rashly."_

_Jeremiah stared as the guards came in and he got out, "Suzaku Kururugi, for the murder of Prince Clovis la Britannia, I place you under arrest!"_

* * *

Kururugi went down after one of the guards kicked him off the chair. Still, he didn't speak but kept looking at Jeremiah unflinchingly and unblinking. The fire was still there in his eyes. Jeremiah nearly flinched before he grabbed the chair and hit him across the head with it, knocking the Eleven out, his eyes flickering shut.

Wasting no time, Jeremiah walked out of the room, leaving behind the bewildered guards and the unconscious Eleven.

_Why should I believe him? He's a Number, he'll say anything to save his skin!_ Jeremiah kept repeating in his head.

However, if you repeat something over and over again, it _will_ lose it's meaning.

_Lady Marianne,_ he thought, his face twisting in anguish.

* * *

It was time.

Dash had sent him to tail Kallen Kouzuki after the school day for Ashford ended, so that he could meet up with the other resistance members.

_I'm a half-breed, but I fight them because my family was killed by Britannian soldiers, including my Britannian mother,_ Rai had repeated in his head like a mantra so that he wouldn't forget.

Rai sucked in a breath as Kallen Kouzuki began to get on the train car. He shot out from his hiding spot and ran after her and made it into the car just before the doors shut behind him. However, his momentum kept him going and he slammed into the red-head and made them both hit the ground.

"Ow!"

Rai quickly stopped himself from crushing her by slamming out his hands on the floor, inches from Kallen Kouzuki. She looked like she was about to retort at him before she actually saw his face and her retort died.

"Um, hello," Rai said softly, before getting off her and offering her his hand. She took it a moment later and the two took a seat. Kallen Kouzuki moved closer so that he could hear her.

The two looked fairly inconspicuous, almost like a couple, with Kallen still wearing her Ashford Academy uniform and Rai wore a black blazer with a blue tie and jacket, grey jeans and black lace-up shoes.

"So you're U-1," Kallen Kouzuki stated softly, looking at him with slight fascination.

"Ansel Rai Lubie," he said, extending his hand to her, "it's nice to meet you, Q-1."

"Kallen Kouzuki," she said, shaking it.

"He contacted you just a few days ago, right?"

"Yes. Why, didn't he contact you?"

"I lost my communications with him during the battle in Shinjuku. But I saw you heading out on other than an errand or a date, so I followed," Rai said swiftly.

"You're awfully genre-savvy, aren't you?" Kallen Kouzuki said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really..."

_"Next Stop, Tokyo Tower,"_ the PA announced.

The train came to a stop. Kallen Kouzuki and Rai stood up and walked out onto the platform that lead to the tower before them. Rai couldn't help marveling at the structure before them. According to Suzaku, it was a very important landmark in Japan.

_Focus,_ he chided himself, _I'm here to see Zero._

As he looked around, he caught faces of the other resistance members. With that, they entered the tower. There were all ready quite a few Britannians there, taking a tour. They were gazing at the Tower with the same marvel that Rai had when they had arrived, but for different reasons; they just wanted to see the only structure left standing after the war between the two countries.

They took an elevator upwards and got off after it stopped. Rai suppressed a scowl at how the propaganda droned on about the war between the Holy Britannia Empire and the nation of Japan. He had all ready been schooled about the actual events courtesy of Suzaku and Mariel, so hearing it now, in such a biased way, was especially infuriating.

_Some of the best minds in the world came from Japan, beautiful literature and poetry, good food and learned people, and their pop-culture's addicting, _Rai thought, _I'd hardly call that unenlightened._

Kallen Kouzuki stopped in front of a display case, showcasing a Katana and samurai armor dating back to the civil-war era. Rai read the plaque describing the two.

_Do they even know 'seppuku' just means suicide?_

"Paging a Ms. Kallen Statfeld of Ashford Academy," a P.A. voice rang out on the intercom, "one of your personal effects has been turned in at the kiosk on the observation level."

Kallen Kouzuki looked up and glanced at Rai. He nodded. They both went over to the elevator, Ohgi and the others not far behind as they all got on. The elevator went up until a _beep_ went off and the doors opened again, revealing the observation deck. Kallen walked over to the desk, Rai staying behind with the other resistance members.

He offered a friendly smile to them. Kaname Ohgi blinked, looking confused before Rai gently mouthed "U-1" before pointing to himself. The afro-man's eyebrows shot up and the other members stared at him with looks that ranged to disbelief, surprise and outright disdain. Shinichiro Tamaki gave him a thumbs-up.

A moment later, Kallen Kouzuki came back, holding a blue cell phone before she signaled them over.

"What did he say?" Kaname Ohgi asked.

"He wants us to board the next outboard Kanjou Train," she reported.

With that, their group moved to the fifth Kanjou line and got on the next train. Right away, Rai noticed something unusual about the people on board. They were all sitting, their eyes to the floor, dull and un-responsive. Rai checked one person's eyes who was sitting upright. Sure enough, he saw the rings of red light that could only belong to geass. A moment later, the train was speeding through the line.

_He works almost as fast as Sir Dash._

Kallen Kouzuki pulled out the phone and flipped it open. "What is it?"

Rai could faintly hear, "Face forward and look to your right. What do you see?"

Rai turned and looked as Kallen did.

He saw large estates and mansions, sky-scrapers and shops met his sight. Parks, vibrant and green. People were everywhere, smiling and energized.

"I see the Britannian Settlement," Kallen Kouzuki replied, "A bustling, vibrant city that was built on the sacrifice of the Japanese."

"Now look to the left."

Rai turned.

He saw rotting and crumbling buildings. Not a speck of green or life anywhere. He could see no people.

"I see the remnants of a great city," Kallen Kouzuki grimaced, "before Britannia sucked it dry and left it to rot away."

Rai gritted his teeth slightly, his fist clenching. Disgust bubbled inside him, clogging his throat like bile.

"Good answer," the voice said, "now make your way to the first car. I'll be waiting."

Rai stood up straighter. It was time. They made their way past the other passengers until they came to the first car. The other people there were the same as the ones in the car they were in at first, all were looking down and sitting. Finally, they made it to the first car. It was dark, but Rai could faintly make out the figure in front of them.

"Was the ceasefire your doing?" Kallen Kouzuki asked.

He remained silent.

"Please answer," Kaname Ohgi said, "were you the one who helped us?"

Then, the figure turned around just as the train entered a dimly lit tunnel.

The figure before him was undeniably Zero, his trademark mask and cape in place. It wasn't the same costume that Suzaku wore, but that was to be expected. His cape was black with gold trim, a deep blue suit with further trimmings, a white cravat and the trademark mask, black with dark blue glass.

Rai sucked in a breath; he was both in awe and inexplicably afraid. He had seen Suzaku as Zero before, and yet-

_And yet, I can truly believe that this man is the one who held the world in the palm of his hand,_ Rai realized, incredible.

"My name," he said, bowing dramatically, "is Zero. Did you enjoy my tour of the city?"

"'Tour?'" Kaname Ohgi repeated, confused.

"I had to make sure you all knew the difference," he stated as he reached out with his arms, billowing his cape, "the difference between the settlement," his right hand gestured, "and the ghettos," and with his left.

"We know the difference!" Kaname Ohgi said, stepping forward, "And it's harsh, that's why we resist them."

"You're wrong!" Zero stated imperiously, "Britannia won't fall to mere terrorism."

"What do you mean 'fall'?" Kaname Ohgi asked.

"Your enemy is Britannia and it's corruption, not the citizens and innocents of the Tokyo Settlement. Attacking them will not only turn them against you but it will give your enemy more fire to use against you as well. It is a war that must waged, there is no way around it, but not on the innocent, for they are not your enemy; _Take up your sword and fight for justice!"_

Rai stared. And to think that this wasn't Zero's best and the young man was already spellbound.

"That's easy for you to say!" Kallen Kouzuki retorted, "you're the one wearing the mask here!"

"Yeah, lose the mask!" Shinichiro Tamaki echoed.

"You did us a great favor in Shinjuku and for that, you have our thanks," Kanmae Ohgi said, "but we need you to show us that we can trust you. Will you please take off the mask?"

"Instead of my face," Zero said, "I will give you a demonstration of my power. If I make the impossible possible, will you trust me?"

Rai stepped forward, about to say something but remembered to late not to draw attention to himself. "What do you have in mind, sir?"

Zero turned to him for a split second, Rai knowing that Lelouch vi Britannia was analyzing him in that time-frame before he said, "Tomorrow night, Suzaku Kururugi will be taken to court martial for the murder of Prince Clovis, when the one who killed the man who ordered the Shinjuku blood bath was I!"

Rai heard the others gasp behind him but he didn't join in. A moment later, he regretted not acting surprised, because it could single him out to Lelouch vi Britannia.

"So the trial..."

"Is nothing more than the Purist Faction's attempt to undermine the Honorary Britannians. If Suzaku Kururugi is brought before the court, he _will_ be found guilty; there is no maybe, they have faked evidence for this crime. I have a plan to free him, but I need your help to carry it out."

There was a second's silence before Kaname Ohgi stepped forward. "... What do you have in mind then, Zero?"

* * *

Kallen glanced at the silver-haired boy for the umpteenth time. He was her age, maybe a little younger than her, with messy silver, almost white hair, deep blue eyes, like a lake's, pale skin and a svelte build, similar to Lelouch. Not only that, but his features were similar to his as well.

_Okay, that's just creepy,_ she thought, _are they related?_

She, him and the other resistance members were in the junkyard, where they were getting the car ready for tonight. She was able to miss school thanks to the excuse that was her illness. While convenient for getting her out of school, it meant whenever she showed up, she had to act like a weakling.

Right now, the two teenagers were taking a slight break because Ohgi insisted that they not get too tired before tonight.

"Kallen," Rai suddenly said, "why do you fight Britannia?"

Kallen looked up at him before she said, "Why do you?"

"My family was killed by Britannian soldiers; not even my mother was spared and she was Britannian," Rai said simply.

Kallen stared. "You're part Britannian?"

"Yes, my father was Japanese."

Kallen looked away, feeling a bit ashamed that she had felt so hostile towards the other; he was kindred spirit, it turned out. "I'm a half-breed too; my mother is Japanese and my father is Britannian. After the war ended, my father abandoned my mother and married a Britannian Baroness. My brother joined a Resistance group, and eventually became their leader," Kallen faltered here, her chest clenching with grief, "but lost his life."

"This is the group he joined?" Rai asked, looking back at the others working.

Kallen nodded. "So I fight for his sake, and for a liberated Japan."

_That's right; I'm fighting for the future that my brother fought for. For the sake of the oppressed Japanese and to drive out those Britannian scum out of my home._

"... what happened to your real mother?" Rai asked.

Kallen stiffened at the question before a frown crossed her face.

"i'm sorry, should I have not asked?" Rai said, looking worried now.

Kallen shook her head. "It's fine; my mother came to work as a servant under my step-mother."

Her frown became a scowl. "It's sickening; she keeps clinging to my father when he's already moved on! Why won't she just leave me alone and live?!"

"It sounds like she loves you very much, to stay with the woman your father married."

Kallen stared at him. "What?"

Rai blinked. "Did it occur to you that she stayed for your sake, not to be close to your father? You're her only remaining child, after all."

Kallen felt sick then; if that was true, then-

_My God, what have I done?_

"Kallen, are you all right?" Rai asked, setting a hand on her shoulder.

Kallen looked up at him, managing to nod her head weakly. He smiled at her softly.

"It's not too late, you know," he said, "you can still bring about the future your brother wished for and you can make up with your mother."

_Rai...!_

Kallen smiled. "Thank you, Rai; you're a good-"

However, her sentence was cut off when Rai looked past her and he shot off like a bullet.

_Why that little-!_

* * *

"Sir Dash, what are you doing here?!" Rai hissed.

When he had been talking with Kallen, he had spotted the raven-haired immortal looking over at them in plain sight. Acting quickly, Rai got him behind some scrap metal to prevent him from being seen.

"Isn't it obvious? I'll be going along with my nephew and Kallen," he said simply.

"... Sir Dash, pardon my ignorance, and possibly my manners," Rai said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "but why the hell makes you think you're coming along? This isn't some joy ride we're going on!"

"I'm aware of that, Rai," Sir Dash responded, "but I know how to handle myself and this is for the long run of our little adventure."

Rai stared. "What are you talking about, Sir Dash?"

The immortal grinned.

* * *

Suzaku sat up straight, eyes looking defiantly ahead, ignoring the insults and profanity thrown at him by the staged crowds. Any moment now, "Zero" would make his grand entrance and start his career over again. But this time, Suzaku was behind it.

He glanced forward at Jeremiah. Last time, he looked on with blatant triumph, but now, he looked pensive and serious. Clearly, his words had given the leader of the Purist Faction food for thought.

_I hope Dash wakes him up soon,_ he thought, _he was a lot more bearable when he was on Lelouch's side._

Just then, he saw a guard go up to Jeremiah and whisper something to him. It was time. The vehicle pulled up.

"How dare you impersonate Prince Clovis's transport! Come out at once!" Jeremiah barked.

Then, the Britannian flag burned away, revealing a very familiar figure.

_"I am Zero!" _

_Lelouch...!_

Suzaku leaned forward, adrenaline pumping in his veins suddenly. He saw Jeremiah flicker back to him, bewilderment flashing in his eyes.

* * *

_ "By the time my execution begins, you'll wish you hadn't acted so rashly."_

* * *

_Was this what Kururugi meant? Did he know this Zero would intercept them?!_ Jeremiah thought.

"Enough of your games!" Kewell snapped, holding his pistol aloft, "your little show's been cancelled!"

He fired off a shot and Knightmare frames surrounded the envoy and raised their assault rifles at Zero, who didn't even flinch. Kewell sneered.

"All right, Zero, come down from there and lose the mask!" he shouted, leveling his forearms at Zero.

Zero's hand moved to the dark blue glass on his mask, but then he raised his arm and napped his fingers in one fluid motion. The back of the car moved away to reveal the same canister of gas that had been stolen a few days prior.

_Oh no._

"Take him down!" Kewell ordered.

"No don't!" Jeremiah shouted through his microphone, prompting Kewell to look at him in confusion and disbelief.

_If he misses him, then everyone here's a goner! He's just taken every Britannian here hostage and they don't even know it! Losing Kururugi here would be an embarrassment, but losing so many Britannians would be even worse; we'd be responsible for killing our own countrymen, and the Purist Faction would be ruined!_

Kewell finally lowered his pistol and addressed Zero. "What is it that you want, Zero?"

"I merely wish to trade," Zero said, "Kururugi, for this canister."

"Never!"

"With one Eleven, you'd save countless citizens of Britannia; I consider that to be an impeccable deal."

"Like hell it is! This _monkey_ is responsible for Price Clovis's murder! I won't hand him over to you!"

"You're wrong, Kewell; Kururugi is no murderer," Zero stated, "this is nothing more than a pitiful attempt by the Purist Faction to undermine the Honorary Britannian system because you couldn't find his true killer! But you need not look further, for the one who put down Clovis..."

Zero looked directly ahead where Diethard Red was filming, **"... was I!"**

Jeremiah stared in shock, the crowd beginning to yell out.

_Zero was the one who killed Prince Clovis?!_

Not that it would matter, Jeremiah realized. Kewell wouldn't let Zero get away now. He almost wished he was in Kewell's place; his fellow officer would be decorated for taking down Prince Clovis's murderer.

"You've insulted not only Britannia, but even the late Prince Clovis! If your claim is indeed true, then I will take you down his highness!" Kewell stated as he raised his firearms again.

"Careful now, Lord Soresei," Zero said, "you wouldn't want the public to learn of _Project Orange,_ now would you?"

Something clicked inside Jeremiah's head then at the mention of _Orange._ Something was wrong now. It felt... it felt-

_-familiar?_

"If I die, then it will go public. If you wish for it to remain a secret-"

Suddenly, Jeremiah felt as if someone was watching him. He looked forward at the envoy before he noticed someone by the driver rise up and look in his direction. He felt eyes bore into his own before red light swam over his vision and three words echoed in his mind.

_"Awaken, Jeremiah Gottwald."_

* * *

"... very well."

Kewell turned to the soldiers guarding Kururugi. "You there, release him at once!"

Villeta stared in disbelief from her Sutherland. What had just happened?!

"Lord Gottwald!" she addressed her liege, only to see him on his knees, gripping his head in both hands.

"Lord Gottwald!" she cried out again, but Jeremiah didn't answer.

"You bastard, what did you do to him?!" the dark-skinned woman shouted as she moved the frame forward, only for Kewell's voice to blast in her ears.

"Don't you dare interfere, Nu!" he practically screamed. "Kururugi and Zero must walk free or else!"

Kururugi and Zero were now in front of each other, whispering to one another. She couldn't make out what they were saying.

_I have to stop this now!_

Villeta quickly adjusted her frequency so the other pilots could hear her. "Listen to me now! Kewell's lost it! Stop Zero and Kururugi immediately!" she barked.

But then, the back of the car began to sputter before-

_KLANG._

The canister opened, dark green gas pouring out. Villeta stared in horror as it spread around at an alarming rate, especially towards to crowds. Zero grabbed Kururugi in the confusion and got to the vehicle before they drove away.

"Cowardly Elevens!" Villeta shouted, taking aim with her assault rifle before she felt her entire being shudder.

What the-? Villeta looked behind her and her eyes widened.

_"Shit!"_ she rasped out as she shot her Sutherland forward to avoid the detonation of the chaos mine.

It went off, but Villeta had managed to escape the worst of it. However, the leg of her Sutherland had been damaged badly and she went down a moment later.

"Zero and Kururugi must escape! Nobody will stop them!" Kewell roared in her ear piece.

Villeta could do nothing now as Zero, Kururugi and their other comrades jumped off the bridge where the other terrorists waited for them. The dark-skinned woman grimaced before she slammed her fist into the wall of her cockpit in anger.

_"Dammit!"_

* * *

Lelouch looked at his best friend.

Just like he had planned, he was able to rescue Suzaku and undermine the Purist Faction, even if he didn't understand why Gottwald was acting so strangely. But that didn't matter right now.

Suzaku didn't look very well though; he could see how the prison suit fitted Suzaku and he could see the bruises on his face. This made his blood boil.

"It looks like they treated you quite roughly, Kururugi," he stated, "and I expect you understand now, that they believe that all Numbers are beneath them in every way possible and they will use whatever method necessary to gain their goals, even if it means the death of their own countrymen."

"Is that why you used that canister of poison gas?" Suzaku asked.

"Calm yourself; it wasn't poisonous gas, simple a smoke screen for my purposes. Besides, no one died in the outcome, right?" Lelouch stated.

Suzaku frowned softly at that.

"If you wish to change anything, Suzaku," Lelouch said, his voice beginning to swell slightly, "then join me; the Britannians you serve are not deserving of your loyalty."

Suzaku said nothing, his upper face shadowed. Lelouch waited with bated breath for his decision.

He couldn't, Lelouch concluded, simple couldn't side with them after all of this. There was no way.

"... I can't."

Lelouch stared. What?!

Suzaku looked at him, his expression serious and almost saddened. "If I were to join you, it would only give the Purist Faction or somebody else to use this as an excuse to crack down on the Honorary Britannians and the other Japanese. Like it or not, but I've been made into a symbol."

He then looked at Lelouch, or rather Zero's mask, but now, it felt as if Suzaku's eyes were boring straight into his. "I know that you want me to join you, and to be honest, I wish more than anything I could right here and now, but I can't. And it'snot just because I've been inconvenienced."

"The kind of person you are, Zero, is that you will play your riskiest card first, not caring about the damage you do to your enemies or your allies. If you continue to act in such a way, then you could push all those around you away."

"And," at that, Suzaku's expression became solemn, "if I were to die, then the people I cared about would be sad. My contractor, my friend and... and the woman I love, who sill loves about me even after everything we've been through..."

Lelouch stared. Just what happened during the seven years they had separated?

With that, Suzaku turned away and began walking. "Wait, where are you gong?!" Lelouch exclaimed.

"Back to my trial. If I don't, they'll think I joined you and still crack down on the Honorary Britannians and Japanese."

"You idiot! You know that they'll execute you no mater what evidence is presented in your favor!"

This caused Suzaku to turn back, chuckling softly.

"Please, after your stunt? They'll have no choice _but_ to let me go."

He smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry that you went through all of this and not have me on your side, but for what it's worth, thank you for saving me and I'm..."

_"I'm counting on you to not let me down."_

With that, Suzaku walked away, back to the Britannians who would persecute him over and over again.

_"You...!"_

"Idiot'? I know," Suzaku cut him off, before raising his hand to wave to him.

_Suzaku,_ Lelouch thought in bewilderment, _what happened to you?!_

* * *

And here it is, chapter 4. I'm sorry for taking so long, I was working on Fullmetal Geass and having writer's block.

Right now, I can't bear to re-watch Code Geass, even after everything. I know, pretty sad, right? Like I said, my up-dating schedule is 2-6 weeks.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

krikanalo: Thank you, for both.

lightshadow101: I'm glad you think so.

Please refer to Chapter 4, Miss 101.

MS Paint Adventures ?s=6&p=007290

* * *

Lelouch stared incredulously.

Now, he had been through quite a bit through the past few days. He had been scooped up unintentionally by terrorists, seen his best friend as a part of the Britannian military and shot before giving him a mysterious satchel he didn't lay a finger on after he got back to Ashford, given a mysterious power, found out that his classmate Kallen Statfeld was half Japanese and a resistance fighter, his best friend becoming a scapegoat for the Purist Faction's whims, becoming Zero, rallying the same ragtag resistance fighters to to rescue Suzaku and undermine said Faction, then being rejected by Suzaku for reasons he didn't expect his best friend to use in a million years.

Only for him to come home to see the young woman from Shinjuku. The same woman who had been shot in the face, was currently sitting in his home, making origami with Nunnally, clearly alive and healthy. He couldn't confront her in front of his sister, especially not after she thought he was her girlfriend. Acting quickly, he let one of the tea cups hit the floor and quickly gave an excuse to Nunnally before he dragged CC away to his room.

"All right, I want answers," he said in a flat tone as the woman looked at him with an almost perpetual look of nonchalance, "who are you and how are you still alive after being shot?"

"If you must know," the woman shrugged with an enigmatic smile, "I prefer to be addressed as 'CC'."

"That's not a name, those are letters."

"How do you like the power I gave you?"

Lelouch's eye twitched as the power she bestowed on him activated, his eye heating up. "So it really was you, the one who gave this power to me. But still, how are you still-"

"'Alive'? You'd wonder that, wouldn't you?" CC shrugged before turning back to him. "Are you satisfied?"

Lelouch nodded, his hand coming up to touch the skin below his left eye. "Yes, this has set me well ahead of schedule."

"For destroying Britannia, yes? And you really believe that this power will help you?"

"I planned to do so before I go this power, but now, why wait any longer?"

CC smiled as she flopped down on his bed. "Why indeed."

"What will you do now? The military won't give up searching for you that easily," Lelouch inquired.

"Only a small faction of the military is looking for me. It won't be difficult to stay under their radar."

At that, the young woman simple threw off the boots she was wearing, then stripped off her upper clothing and crawled into his bed and pulled the covers over her body.

"I'm tired and I want to sleep," she stated simply.

"You can't just stay here-!"

"Good night, boy."

With that, CC turned on her side, leaving no room for any more arguments. Lelouch groaned mentally and slumped onto the floor.

* * *

Some of the Tokyo Settlement residents stared back at the young woman running through the streets as if she was possessed, and at the two men who followed her. However, the young woman would care less of what they thought as she shot through the city.

Finally, who she had been seeking came into sight, a young man with curly brown hair, sunglasses, brown coat, white shirt and blue jeans walking down the street with a duffer bag.

He looked up to see her and smiled as he began to walk towards her. The two kept their paces slow so they wouldn't create a scene before they were right in front of each other.

"Hey," Elle said smiling.

"Hey," Suzaku replied back, also smiling.

She then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips, Suzaku's own arms snaking around her waist to hold her there. It felt so right, so perfect, nothing could come between either of them, not in a million years, not even their audience of a blushing Rai and a grinning Dash.

Elle's euphoria was interrupted when Suzaku suddenly withdrew, his eyes now trained above them. Elle followed his line of sight to see see a young girl with wavy pink hair and white and orange dress starting to climb down the building a few meters away from them. She looked back at Suzaku, who stared back at her, an apologetic look on his face.

"Can't we just her break her leg?" Elle asked in a slight whine.

"Elle!"

"... Fine."

He withdrew from Elle and shot over to the spot underneath Euphimia just as she lost her grip on the makeshift line of bed sheets.

"Look out below!" she cried before Suzaku caught her in his arms.

Elle's chest clenched at the sight of the two of them. Dash and Rai kept silent, both both set a hand on each of her shoulders.

* * *

Suzaku stared. He couldn't help it.

The last time he had seen Euphie was when she was dying. She didn't even remember sending so many innocent Japanese to their deaths. She was so hopeful, so happy when he had lied to her, because he couldn't tell her the truth, it would break her heart.

And now, here she was, alive and healthy and vibrant just like before.

"Are you all right?" Suzaku asked softly after a minute, snapping out of his daze.

"I'm sorry," Euphie said, smiling apologetically, "I didn't know anyone was down there until I fell!"

"Well, to be fair, I didn't expect to catch a falling girl today," Suzaku lied through his teeth.

That's when he saw her expression change. He knew that she just realized who he was.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

A few moments passed before Euphie said, "There is, actually; some bad men are chasing after me. Could you please help me?"

"Of course," Suzaku said, "but would you mind if the people with me tag along? There's safety in numbers after all."

Euphie nodded. "Of course. Where are they?"

Suzaku took her hand and led her over to where Rai, Elle and Dash were. Rai and Dash had a hand on each of Elle's shoulders and Elle herself looked so sad. Suzaku's chest clenched.

_How painful must this be for her?_

"This is Dash," he stated, gesturing to the immortal, who was wearing his disguise, thank goodness, "Ansel Rai," he gestured to Rai, who waved slightly, "and," at this, he went up to Elle and put an arm around her shoulders, "this is my fiance, Elle."

Elle looked at him briefly, a smile spreading on her face, the pain gone.

"Oh my, that's so sweet!" Euphie said happily, before gesturing over to the city, "now let's go!"

With that, the odd group went down the streets. Suzaku didn't bother to check the streets, he already knew Euphie was lying. Elle didn't leave his side, their fingers and hands entwined securely. Dash and Rai were just behind them, trying to look casual, with Rai failing in epic proportions and Dash was clearly trying to keep from laughing at the entire situation.

"That's right!" Euphie suddenly stopped before turning back to the others, "I haven't introduced myself yet; my name's Euphie!"

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "'Euphie'?"

"Yes, Euphie," she stated.

Suzaku repressed a chuckle. "My name's-"

"-Suzaku Kururugi, son the former Prime Minister of Japan, Genbu Kururugi," Euphie cut in, "you're quite the celebrity, you know."

"I haven't seen anyone coming after us," Dash remarked before turning back to Euphie, "so one can only assume you were lying about being followed, right?"

However, Euphie wasn't listening, her attention was currently being given to a very familiar cat. Suzaku felt a tiny smile quip on his face as Euphie meowed at Arthur animatedly. Even in the original timeline, Arthur had been still alive after all those years. In fact, Cornelia began taking care of him after she found out about Euphie naming him.

The smile spread a bit more as Arthur finally accepted Euphie and allowed her to pick him up, purring loudly in her arms. However Suzaku wisely kept his hands away from the cat.

"Isn't he cute?" Euphie said, showing the others Arthur.

"Sure, why not," Elle stated, though her expression begged to differ.

Rai looked weary and actually edged away while Dash went right up to him.

"Hiya there," he stated, smiling.

Arthur then hissed at him, actually burying himself deeper into Euphie's arms. Dash just shrugged as Suzaku stared. He had never seen Arthur do that to anyone, not even him.

_Maybe, he senses Dash is a code bearer? Animals end to be more sensitive about certain things even more than humans._

"Hey," Dash commented before he noticed Arthur's paw, "what happened to it's paw?"

"Oh my!" Euphie looked at his paw worriedly, "we should get something for the poor little guy!"

With that, Suzaku led them to the store where he purchased the bandages the first time around, Euphie still meowing with Arthur.

"Say Euphie," Elle asked as her eyebrow twitched, "just what are you talking about over there?"

"Arthur's telling me how he got hurt," Euphie said matter-of-factly.

"So he introduced himself too, eh?" Elle stated, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but his name's Arthur all the same," Euphie said, "and he said he fell from a high place like me, but wasn't so lucky."

"... right."

With that, the five of them got to the store where Suzaku bought the bandages before they all sat outside and waited for Euphie to bandage up Arthur's paw.

"Suzaku," Rai said softly, "how long are we supposed to do this? I don't think I'm very comfortable around her."

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "What, do you like her or something?"

Rai shook his head. "No, I mean I really, really don't want to hang around her, she's... well, she's-!"

At this, Rai's expression became almost fearful, "Suzaku, please don't tell me you don't notice it around her?"

Suzaku stared; now he was seriously confused. He understood why Elle might be uncomfortable around Euphie and even Dash, since he was Lelouch and Nunnally's uncle, but what reason did Rai have to be weary of her? They never even met before today.

"Oh! It ran away..." Euphie said softly as Arthur the Cat went on his way.

"Why did you lie to us when we met?" Suzaku asked.

"Do you inquire because you're concerned for me?"

"Kind of."

Euphie smiled before she grasped Suzaku' and Rai's arms. "Good, then you all can accompany me even more!"

Rai visibly looked sick now before Elle quickly pried Euphie's arm off of Rai's arm, the silver-haired boy retreating back to Dash. Euphie looked confused for a moment, but paid it no more attention as they went off again.

First was window shopping at various stores. Suzaku was happy to see Elle's earlier hostility melt somewhat and she joined Euphie in window shopping, both clearly enjoying themselves. Eventually, the five of them stopped for lunch. Suzaku and Elle were happy to be tasting Japanese food, Dash was enjoying himself as well, and Rai and Euphie bravely tried some of the food, the former saying it was adequate while the latter loved it.

They continued to explore the settlement. This was helpful not only for Euphie, but Rai, Dash and Elle as well, since this was the first time they ever visited it. The only thing that happened that actually lowered their moods was a broadcast about the events of the previous night.

Dash and Rai frowned, Euphie simple looked downcast, and Elle gave him a fierce expression.

_We're going to make this right, Suzaku_, she conveyed, _and we are going to_ win.

Suzaku smiled softly. _Elle..._

"You know," Euphie said, interrupting his thought, "being here is a lot like being in Britannia. It's as if I never left home."

"So, you're from the mainland then?" Dash said.

Euphie nodded. "I was a student until last week."

"Did you drop out or something?" Elle asked.

"Sort of," Euphie admitted, before her expression became a bit more solemn, "this is the last day I'll be able to spend my time like this, and I wanted to see as much of Area 11 as possible."

Suzaku frowned slightly; after this, she would go back to being Euphimia li Britannia, sub-Viceroy of Area 11.

"Then, you didn't really need any of us for that," Suzaku said.

"That's not true; I enjoyed myself very much today, thank you for spending it with me," Euphie said, smiling at him.

Suzaku simply nodded, keeping his eyes away from her as he did so. He knew what she was trying to say and that made it all the more worse. He glanced up at Elle, her arms crossed across her chest.

_I know that Elle understands that I love her more than Euphie, but even seeing us together must really be hard on her._

"Hey Elle."

Suzaku settled by her side, giving her a quick grin before he entwined his hand with hers once more. Elle looked at him, a tiny smile on her face.

"Everyone," Euphie said softly, "there's one more place I wish to see."

Suzaku looked over at her. "Of course."

"Take me to Shinjuku," Euphie said, before a stern expression crossed her face.

"Please escort me there, all of you."

* * *

_"So then, you took back Sir and Lady Kururugi, as well as a geass user with similar powers to his Majesty back in time?"_

_Jeremiah and Dash were just outside the teal-haired man's apartment, where Dash had appeared to him just a while ago in the dead of night._

_"That's right. I awoke you during Zero's first performance from the car," Dash answered._

_Jeremiah's hand came to the side of his head. "And now, you plan to rewrite the past to save his majesty."_

_"Among other things. I would have awoken you earlier but I had no time."_

_Jeremiah shook his head. "It doesn't matter, I'm awake now and I intend to help his majesty in any possible."_

_"The only problem is that he can't be awoken because he died in the original timeline," Dash said, "so until you can be properly brought to his side, you'll have to continue working where you are now."_

_Jeremiah bowed his head slightly. "I understand."_

* * *

"You have to believe me!"

Kewell was becoming hysterical now. He didn't know how he had lost part of his memory last night, and while he did, he had let, and even aided, Zero in rescuing Kururugi.

But he couldn't understand why. Now, the entire Purist Faction was crying for his blood, and Jeremiah's, to an extent, since he had done nothing to stop Zero.

"Calm down, Kewell," Jeremiah said gently, setting his hands on his comrade's shoulders, "I believe you and so does Villeta."

Kewell's face twisted in anguish as he clutched at his hair. "I don't understand. I just don't. It was as if my mind was being screwed around with like a _puppet_! And now, my career is undoubtedly over; I wouldn't be surprised if I'm shipped off to another Area after Princess Cornelia arrives!"

Jeremiah looked at the orange haired man with a stern expression. "I know you're upset, Kewell, you have every right to be, but panicking about the future will do you no good. You have to keep composed now more than ever."

"What do you mean?"

"The others are planning a coup de' tat and they plan on taking us both down," Jeremiah informed in.

Kewell paled but Jeremiah cut him off before he could speak again. "I know where it is and how many will be there. What we need to do is prepare accordingly. Make sure your Sutherland is in top form, bring along extra weapons and ammunition, as well as at least two spare energy filters. A lance will do as well. Neither of us has much time."

Kewell stared but nodded mutely before he left. He didn't know how Jeremiah knew about the coup, but right now, he didn't care.

_I have to get through this,_ he thought, fist gripping.

* * *

Dash grimaced.

The Shinjuku Ghetto was an absolute wreck. The only difference between the Shinjuku Ghetto he landed in before now was that it had more people, Japanese and Britannian alike, albeit not in a very pleasant manner. There were posters asking for missing loved ones, graves made from plastic, sticks and stones littered the ground. Some were bare, others had little mementos.

It made the immortal physically sick to his stomach that these people, along with those of Green and Iceland, Canada, New Zealand and many others, who had never done any harm to Britannia, had been reduced to such a state.

At that, a scowl crossed his face, his teeth gritting from yelling out in pure frustration. And what had _he_ done to help it?! While he said that he wished to bring about a gentle world, he went out and enslaved it's people and nations when he could have been the emperor who reformed Britannia in everyone's eyes!

_Big sis,_ he thought, his face twisting up in anguish, _how could you allow yourself to work with_ him?

"Get outta here, you Britannian bastards!"

Dash looked up to see three men, one that he was able to identify as Shinchiro Tamaki, confronting three Britannian students, who were taking pictures of the Shinjuku Ghetto, specifically the battlefield it became a few days ago. Tamaki had just knocked the camera one of the students was using onto the ground.

"How dare a lowly Eleven speak to us like that," one of the boys sneered.

"'Japanese'!" Tamaki snarled. "I'm Japanese, not an Eleven!"

"Your people lost the war," the other boy snorted, "as of now, you're nothing more than a bunch of beaten dogs."

_"You racist pig!"_

Dash noticed Rai's eyes flashing with anger.

"Suzaku," Dash said simply, "stay here."

Suzaku blinked. "Okay...?"

Dash nodded to the silver haired boy and they went down the hill. The arguing began to escalate and then both males sprung into action. Dash and Rai leaped up and landed a kick onto the students, Rai's foot kicking into the first boy's chest before he jumped and landed another kick into the second boy's chest with his other foot while both of Dash's feet ramming into the third student's face.

(Refer to Volume 1 of Ranma 1/2; Rai uses Akane's pose and Dash uses Ranma's when they both kick Kuno in the face on page 126, or page 6 of part 6 for a better visual of Rai and Dash's attacks. It's really quite amusing.)

Tamaki and his friends stared dumbfounded at the scene while the three boys groaned on the ground. Dash and Rai both regained their footing and stood to the side, waiting for the brats to get up.

"Ow, what the fuck?!" one of the students snapped, clutching his bleeding nose.

"Get out of here," Dash said in a flat tone, "you have no right to throw around your weight around anyone, you brats."

"Why you-!" the second snarled.

"Really, you're all very pathetic," Rai suddenly said, his expression becoming frosty, "All you do is lounge around and yap about Britannia's so-called supremacy when you're nothing more than a bunch of over-indulgent, spoiled-rotten, good-for-nothing brats, apart of a stagnated and fanatical country. Shits like you are the reason Britannia is hated by _everyone_. You have no right to be here, or even _exist_."

The three boys now looked thoroughly frightened, even Tamaki and his friends looked taken back, Dash knew he looked taken back as well. He didn't expect Rai to be so vehement to them.

_Still, this is good,_ Dash thought_, his fire is genuine. He'll become instrumental in winning against Britannia._

"This guy's a freaking nutcase!"

"Let's get outta here!"

With that, the three students scrambled away from Rai and away from the Ghetto. However the ice didn't fade from Rai's eyes and he looked as if he wanted to go after them. Dash set a hand on his shoulder.

"Let it go," he said softly, "there's nothing left for us to do."

Rai scowled but nodded.

"Hey."

Rai looked back at Tamaki and the two others with him. "Yes?" he asked.

"Thanks. You really showed those brats what for," Tamaki said, holding out his fist to Rai.

The boy looked confused.

"It's called a bro-fist," Dash said softly, prompting Rai to bump his own fist against Tamaki's.

With that, the three Japanese men left as Euphimia, Elle and Suzaku came down to them.

"Why did you do that to those boys? You could have just told them to leave!" Euphimia admonished them both.

"Words will do nothing to people like them," Dash said, "there are times when you have to pound your words into them so it gets the point across."

Euphimia frowned as she looked down. "Even so..."

However, Euphimia's sentence was then drowned out by a distant explosion.

* * *

Jeremiah gritted his teeth as he fended off a stun tonfa before he slashed off the attacking _Sutherland's_ leg, causing it to crash.

Sure enough, just as he thought, the ambush was sprung just like last time. He was glad that Kewell had enough sense to follow through with his instructions, because there were some stark differences between this ambush and the last.

For one, there weren't four _Sutherlands_, there were eight. For another, they seemed to carry the same thoughts Jeremiah did, they had many weapons and even more ammunition.

"Stand down, Jeremiah Gottwald! You won't stop us from making Kewell pay for what he's done!" one of the Purist Faction members said through the microphone.

"For the last time stand down, Oliver! Kewell did what he did to protect the royal family! You cannot begrudge him for his actions!" Jeremiah retorted.

"Silence!" the other, Oliver apparently, barked. "We serve the Imperial Family and no one else! Why else would we be here but to punish you both for your actions?!"

"It's bad enough neither of you did anything to punish Zero for his actions, but now you continue to lie to our faces about where your loyalties truly are!" another cried out.

"They're not lies!" Kewell snapped as he dodged two other _Sutherlands_ as they fired at him, "We both serve the Imperial Family with absolute loyalty!"

"Shut your mouth, 'Orange'!" Oliver barked.

Jeremiah's teeth nearly bit through the skin of his lips as he began his counterattack. As two _Sutherlands_ charged at him, Jeremiah parried one with his stun tonfa and fired his assault rifle at the other, knocking off their _Sutherlands_ head. A quick glance backwards showed Jeremiah that another Sutherland was about to open fire at him. Acting quickly, he maneuvered out of the way, pushing the first _Sutherland_ at the bullets.

Kewell wasn't doing as well. Three different _Sutherlands_ were ganging up on him and it was all the pilot could do to dodge and parry, for the three left no room for Kewell to properly counterattack. Jeremiah moved to help his comrade but was knocked off balance when another _Sutherland_ rammed their stun tonfa down his _Sutherland's_ back and another fired a Slash harken, knocking the _Sutherland_ to the ground. Kewell's _Sutherland_ was pinned down as well.

_Dammit!_ Jeremiah silently cursed as he struggled to get up, but two more _Sutherlands_ stopped his efforts.

"Don't worry, either of you," Oliver said in a mocking tone, "we'll simply say that you both died fighting the Eleven terrorists. That way, at least your families will be spared the disgrace of your betrayals!"

Just before the _Sutherland's_ lances tore through Jeremiah and Kewell's robots, two white and gold slash harkens knocked them out of the way. All of the _Sutherlands_ looked up to see the _Lancelot_ in all it's glory above them.

"What the- what's the _Lancelot_ doing here?!" Kewell exclaimed.

_Finally; I didn't think he'd make it in time!_ Jeremiah thought triumphantly.

"Enough! Stop fighting all of you!" Suzaku called through the microphone, "You're all on the same side, whether you like it or not!"

"Stay out of this, or die along with Orange and Gottwald!" Oliver barked.

(Author: Never thought I'd actually put these two as separate phrases in the same sentence. ^_^')

Suzaku said nothing but the _Lancelot_ drew out both of its _MVS_. A slash harken was fired at him, but the_ MVS_ easily cut down the weapons before shooting down to the battlefield, knocking away the enemy lance, shattering it.

"Private Kururugi, these scumbags have staged a mutiny against Lord Soresei and I both! I request your help in this situation!" Jeremiah said through the microphone.

"Yes, my lord!" Suzaku responded.

"What?!" Kewell said in disbelief.

_Let it go and accept the help, you fool._

"Asking help from a Number?! And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower!" Oliver said, "Take them down! The _Lancelot_ won't save you!"

With that, the remaining five _Sutherlands_ charged at the three pilots. The _Lancelot_ shot forward faster than the _Sutherlands_ could react, slicing off the legs and arms of the first two, causing the two robots to crash onto the ground unceremoniously. Jeremiah fired his slash harken at another _Sutherland_, knocking it off balance before it could fire it's assault rifle.

"Lord Jeremiah, behind you!" Kewell exclaimed suddenly.

Jeremiah turned around in time to see another _Sutherland_ speed toward him with a lance, ready to skewer him, mere yards away.

_Shit! There's no time to dodge-_

However, even when the thought was leaving him, another _Sutherland_ suddenly appeared, smashing into the attacker, knocking it away. The same _Sutherland_ then moved in front of him in a defensive position.

"Forgive me, my lord," Villeta's voice came through, "but it took longer than expected to get here. Reinforcements will arrive here any minute."

"What is the meaning of this?!" Oliver barked in confusion.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jeremiah asked, smirking, "I knew you would try to remove any 'stains of dishonor' from the Purist Faction. I anticipated your ambush and prepared accordingly to counter it!"

* * *

_"A mutiny?!"_

_Jeremiah nodded. Villeta looked worried now. "What do we do?"_

_"They will strike at sunset today," Jeremiah informed her, "but I don't plan on running away and neither is Kewell."_

_"But-!"_

_"Listen to me, Villeta," the teal-haired man said sternly, "you cannot panic, not now. What I need you to do is get a transport ready. Don't go to any of the Purist Faction members if you can help it. And hurry; I'm counting on you."_

_Villeta nodded a determined expression on her face. "Understood my lord!"_

* * *

Suzaku smiled grimly. He had beaten back the mutineers by this time. The only left was the one called Oliver.

"This isn't the end!" Oliver shouted defiantly as the hatch on his Knigthmare frame opened up, revealing a very familiar cylinder.

Suzaku was all ready moving toward the pink-haired princess even as she walked through the entrance to the abandoned stadium started to call out a command to the man. He crossed his arms and extended the _Blaze Luminous_ over Euphie, protecting her from the Chaos Mine's detonation. His frame shuddered from the impact but otherwise, the Chaos Mine did absolutely nothing to the _Lancelot_.

However-

_The_ Blaze Luminous _is eating away through my power to defend against the mine. If this keeps up-!_

"Get her out of here!" Suzaku shouted to anyone as his power kept dropping.

Kewell's_ Sutherland_ shot behind him and scooped up the young woman and bore her out of the fray until the mine lost it's energy and the canister fell to the ground a moment later. Suzaku deactivated the _Blaze Luminous_ afterwards.

Suzaku sighed with relief, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow.

"Are you all right, Lord Kewell?" Jeremiah asked the orange-haired man.

"I am now," Kewell said as he set Euphie down carefully.

"Thank you, sir," she said smiling before she turned to the rest of the _Sutherlands_ and commanded in a regal tone, "lower your weapons at once!"

With that, she walked to the center of the field to address them. "I, Euphimia li Britannia, third princess of the royal family of Britannia, order all of you to stand down. I'm taking charge of this situation here and now!"

* * *

Euphie turned in time to see Suzaku emerge from the Lancelot, safe and sound. He ran over to in her direction before he kneeled before her.

"Forgive me, your highness," he began, "I didn't know that you were-"

"Please rise, Suzaku," she said gently, "there's no need for formalities."

He stood up then. "Are you all right?"

Euphie nodded. "Not a hair out of place, thanks to you and the man who brought me away from the chaos mine."

She turned to the three _Sutherlands_ who had been attacked. "Please come out here, all three of you!"

With that, the cockpits opened up, revealing Jeremiah Gottwald, his Knight Villeta Nu and another member of the Purist Faction, Kewell Soresei. They all kneeled before her as well.

"We're relieved that you are unhurt, your highness," Jeremiah Gottwald said respectfully.

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Gottwald," she said gently, "may I ask which one of you was the one who pulled me out harm's way?"

Jeremiah Gottwald and Villeta Nu immediately gestured to Kewell Soresei. Euphie smiled. "Thank you for helping me, Lord Soresei.

The orange-haired man looked down. "Please, think nothing of it, your highness."

Euphie shook her head. "You actions will not go unrewarded, any of you."

Her expression became serious. "Now, more than ever, we must fight as one and put aside any pettiness to accomplish our goals."

They nodded in agreement, expression serious and determined. Suzaku said nothing, but had an unknown expression on his face.

* * *

Lelouch sighed. Another day at school was starting.

_Really, it's of no use to me. I know what I'm doing anyways,_ he thought as he walked down to his first class.

He sat down in his seat and waited for the teacher to start the lesson. A moment later, the homeroom teacher entered.

"Class, we have three new students joining us at Ashford," they announced in an almost droning tone.

Lelouch's gaze flickered up in curiosity. They almost never got new students at Ashford because of how hard it was to get in. A moment later, his eyes widened in surprise; Suzaku, U-1 and a young woman entered the room, all wearing the Ashford Academy uniforms.

"My name is Suzaku Kururugi, it's a pleasure to meet you all," his best friend said politely.

"Ansel Lubie, hello," U-1 said in a soft, shy tone.

"Mariel Lubie," The girl announced before she suddenly grabbed Suzaku's arm and pulled him toward her, "and if I see any of you screw with my fiance, I _will_ have Ansel beat the shit out of you!"

_?!_

* * *

Enter CC and an awakened Gottwald!

Before you bite my heads off about Elle, think about how'd you feel if you went back in time with your husband, for him to meet up with his first girlfriend. Even if your married and he's assured you he loves you, you still can't help but feel insecure and jealous of the girl.

I never thought I'd refer to Gottwald and Orange as two separate entities.

Benefactor=Euphie.

Fanfics worth reading:

Armed Resistance: In which another Lelouch, much angrier and with much less to lose, challenges Britannia as the man of miracles, Zero. Written by SixTwoSixFour.

Kallen poem: In which Kallen writes what should be the Black Knight's Creed. Written by lightshadow101.

The Winning Hand: In which Tamaki accidentally lands himself, Zero and Kallen in a match of strip poker against the knights of three, six and seven and Schneizal. Written by Rumiglion.


	6. Chapter 6

krikanalo: Glad you think so.

Looking back, I'd say I agree with you. However, you all know when and where the story takes place, don't you?

lightshadow101: Thank you. I really enjoy writing Mariel's character.

You're welcome.

Oh, their reactions will definitely be something interesting, that's for sure.

Imperial warlord: Thank you.

Yuzuki Inohara: Yeah, you're right about that. I wonder what the name of his loyalty should be this time round. I'm thinking "Black".

Well, I'm glad that you think I got Mariel's character with jealousy right.

You all know I don't own Code Geass. Just this fanfic.

* * *

Rivalz Cardemonde, Shirley Fenette and Nina Einstein were at the back of the classroom, their eyes locked on the two students that had every other student looking at them. Suzaku Kururugi was sitting at his desk while Mariel Lubie was on top of said desk, talking to each other quietly. Every minute or so, Suzaku would say something that would make Mariel chuckle softly and an endearing smile would grace both their lips.

"They seem really into it," Rivalz remarked, "it's like they don't even notice anyone looking at them. Guess they were really telling the truth about being engaged."

"But why?" Nina asked softly, "Why would she want to get married to an Eleven? It doesn't make any sense."

Shirley said nothing, her eyes fixed on the two. She wouldn't say it aloud, but Suzaku Kururugi and Mariel Lubie looked more like a happily married couple than a pair of fiances. At that, her own mother and father flashed in her mind.

_They're almost like my parents._

"It kind of sucks," Rivalz suddenly said, face pouting, "pretty much every guy in Ashford is single, then comes in a guy who isn't even Britannian and he's gotten further through the bases than anyone here, sans the married teachers!"

"Rivalz!" Shirley reprimanded, her face turning pink at his implications.

Nina glanced over at the boy with the silver hair, Ansel Lubie. "... what about him? i wonder if he's all right with what his sister's doing."

"You mean Ansel?" Shirley said, looking at the boy by the window.

Examining the boy closely, Ansel did look quite odd, and it wasn't just because of his silver hair with the weird wings in the back. He looked as if... almost as if he had never even seen a school before.

"Either way," Rivalz said, sweat-dropping at the number of girls who were ogling the silver-haired boy, "it looks like Lelouch is gonna have a bit of competition now."

* * *

_There is is!_

Suzaku returned his gaze to Elle. She blinked before his eyes averted back to Lelouch's retreating form. She nodded before leaning down and giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek. Suzaku ignored the soft gasps and scowls of the students as he took his book bag and walked out of the classroom as the bell rang, signalling the end of class, following slightly behind Lelouch until he reached the roof of the school.

His childhood friend was leaning against the railing, looking down on the Tokyo settlement.

"Seven years since we used that signal," Lelouch said as he turned around to face Suzaku, "long time no see, huh?"

Suzaku felt the slight twinge of nostalgia and obvious deja vu as he replied, "Meeting on the roof, just like old times. I'm glad to see you're all right, Lelouch. I was worried."

"Well, I'm alive and kicking, thanks to that stunt you pulled back there," Lelouch chuckled slightly.

Suzaku smiled softly. It had been so long since he had seen his friend smile and laugh like this, and not just when he was still alive as well. "What happened to the girl in the capsule?"

Lelouch shook his head. "I don't know, we got separated fairly quickly. She could be dead for all I know."

His head cocked slightly. "But you would know more than I do, wouldn't you?"

Suzaku frowned slightly. There were two ways he could deal with this; feign ignorance and let the scene play out like last time or...

_Well, he does learn about it anyway._

"Apparently, Prince Clovis was working on a way to become immortal and he was using the girl in there to find out how," Suzaku explained.

"And the army knows this, too?" Lelouch asked, raising an eyebrow.

Suzaku shook his head. "I got this information from an accomplice of mine."

"You have accomplices?"

Suzaku smiled. "I'm still the son of Genbu Kururugi, even if he is dead and Japan is called Area 11."

Lelouch's expression remained blank, but Suzaku could practically see the gears in his head whizzing at high speed. "So, do I still call you by Lelouch, or do you have a different name?"

"Officially, Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia died in the Invasion of Japan, but Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge are nothing more than a pair of orphaned siblings residing at Ashford Academy," Lelouch said, "also, what happened to you at your Court Martial, Nunnally was very worried. And how and why did you enroll in this school?"

Suzaku chuckled sheepishly. "Really, I'm not too sure myself. I'm just as surprised I got in here too. I've been getting my own share of surprises."

_Well, it's not entirely untrue._

"What do you mean?"

"You know that Cornelia is to be the new Viceroy? She brought along her little sister, Euphemia. I met her by chance just after my Court Martial, though I didn't know she was a princess at the time. It turns out that she came to Area 11 before Cornelia because she was curious about where she would be acting as Sub-Viceroy. She heard about what happened and arranged it so that the case could be investigated more thoroughly. Afterwards, the charges against me were dropped," Suzaku explained.

It was partially true. After Jeremiah admitted that he had made Suzaku a scapegoat, Euphie made him investigate the case further. However, since Jeremiah already knew Lelouch killed Clovis, there really wasn't much he could do but put forth a fake investigation and submit a formal apology to Suzaku.

That part was Jeremiah's own.

"Sounds like you had quite the day, huh?" Lelouch said.

"Yeah, I was pretty startled when she revealed herself. I thought I was gonna be in huge trouble for being around the princess for so long, but she just thanked me for showing her around, saying that someone like me should be in school."

* * *

_"Ashford Academy?"_

_Euphie nodded. The two were at the mobile lab that Lloyd and Cecile brought along earlier that day where Suzaku got the Lancelot._

_"Yes. I know your in the military, but you have every right to live like a normal teenager," Euphie said, "and it's the least I can do for your help today."_

_Suzaku bowed his head just as he did before. "Thank you. But..."_

_Euphie blinked. "But what?"_

_"Do you know Mariel and Rai?" Suzaku asked, throwing caution to the wind._

_"Your fiance and friend," Euphie stated, cocking her head._

_"May they please attend Ashford with me?"_

_Euphie looked thoughtful. "I don't see why not. They helped with the tour you gave me as well."_

_She nodded. "All right then; if they can get the forms, then I'll help enroll them along with you."_

* * *

"I wonder what she would think if she leaned that we weren't only friends, but at the same school together," Suzaku wondered, smiling, for he already knew the answer to that.

"It's been seven years; she'd probably burst into tears from sheer joy," Lelouch said, "you know, she had a crush on me when we were younger and she, myself and Nunnally would play together often."

At this, his expression became stern. "But as much as we miss her, you cannot, under any circumstances, you can't tell her that Nunnally and I are here."

Suzaku nodded. "I know," he said before his own expression became solemn.

"Lelouch... do you love Euphemia?" he asked.

Lelouch blinked. "Of course I do. She's a very sweet girl and a kind person-"

"That's not what I meant."

Lelouch's expression flickered at this before he looked at his hands. "...I don't know. Perhaps."

Suzaku said nothing, but remembered what Lelouch had said the last time he had asked.

* * *

_Emperor and Knight were out on the balcony underneath a sky filled with stars, shimmering like fireflies. The silence after the question hung around them like a noose._

_"... why do you ask such a thing, Knight of Zero?" his majesty asked softly._

_"I have to know," the Knight of Zero said with finality._

_His majesty looked down at his hands from where he was resting his arms against the balcony rails. "Euphie... was the first woman I ever, truly fell in love with. It was only for a short time that I interacted with her in Japan, but..."_

* * *

"Suzaku."

The brunet snapped out of the memory and looked back at his friend, who now looked a bit guilty. "What's the matter, Lelouch?"

"The satchel you gave me... someone broke into the dorm Nunnally and I are living in and stole it," he finally got out, averting his eyes.

Suzaku blinked before it hit him.

_Dash said he got me back the satchel and right now it's back at my apartment, but now Lelouch thinks it got stolen. Man, how do I even begin...?_

"Don't worry about it," Suzaku tried, "I'm sure I'll get it back. In fact, I guarantee it."

Lelouch stared at him strangely. "You're acting awfully nonchalant about this, considering how serious you were when you gave it to me."

"Well, I _was_ in extreme/intense pain and losing blood from a bullet wound," Suzaku pointed out, laughing weakly before it died down under Lelouch's stare.

"... right."

"Lelouch, what would you do if I asked you to pretend not to know me?" Suzaku asked.

"I'd ask why, think it's stupid but still respect your decision."

Suzaku chuckled. "That's what I thought."

Lelouch frowned at him. "You're my best friend, Suzaku; I don't want to pretend otherwise."

_Lelouch..._

Suzaku's chest clenched painfully before he stepped back from the railing to face Lelouch a bit more properly.

"Suzaku...?" Lelouch said softly, before the brunet enveloped Lelouch in an embrace, holding him tightly to himself.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Suzaku said, his throat hoarse as he apologized over and over before his voice began to crack.

Lelouch said nothing, his body stiff against Suzaku. He knew Lelouch was confused and he knew that he didn't know, but it didn't stop the tears that were beginning to roll down Suzaku's face as he repeated "sorry" over and over again, for wrongs in an entirely different world.

* * *

"You okay there, kiddo?" Elle asked Rai gently.

The two were outside the Academy, waiting for Suzaku to come out for lunch, in a secluded part of the grounds behind a clump of bushes with a tree looming over the space. Really, the only way people would even see you if you were actually standing up, be it from outside or from the window above. And even then, the tree provided cover for that as well.

"Why did all of those girls look at me like that?" Rai asked softly, looking uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?"

"They were staring at me like a meal or a piece of meat, or something similar, and it was super freaky!" Rai blurted out.

Elle blinked before it dawned on her and she smiled apologetically. "It's because they think you're attractive; they like how you look, so they do. Look, I mean," she said, ruffling his hair affectionately.

Rai blinked. "They think I look nice?"

"Of course they do. 'Cause ya do look nice!" Elle stated, grinning at him, showing all of her teeth.

A light blush settled on Rai's face and he averted his eyes to the ground, making Elle's expression turn to almost adoration. He was so adorable...

Then, the bushes by them rustled a bit before Suzaku entered the area and sat down beside them. Elle immediately scooted over and sat on his lap, taking his hands into hers. "So, how did it go with his majesty- hey, are you all right?"

Suzaku's eyes were red, he looked like he had just finished crying. Suzaku simply shook his head. "I was just getting some out."

Elle regarded him with a concerned expression before she closed the gap between them, kissing him softly before withdrawing.

"All three of us are invited over for dinner at Lelouch's dorm tonight. He wants to meet the woman who's going to be my wife and her little brother, who's a friend of mine."

Elle raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

"... you consider me a friend?" Rai asked softly.

Suzaku looked over at Rai. "What else would I consider you?"

Rai said nothing but smiled softly, eyes averted down. Elle's expression softened.

_Oh kiddo..._

* * *

Darkness.

It was all Nunnally knew now. Ever since her mother's death, her eyes had been closed for the last seven years. She missed it, being able to see. She missed seeing her brother's face, her friend's faces, the colors of everyday. She had never even seen Suzaku's face in all the time she had known him.

Now, she was on her daily walk with Sayoko. Or rather, daily roll. Her legs no longer worked anymore after the incident as well. Every time she tried to stand, they would collapse underneath her as if they were filled with cotton.

But it was all right. It would always be all right. So long as her brother was by her side, even if she were to lose everything else, it would be all right.

_All I need is my brother._

Just then, Nunnally heard footsteps in front of herself and Sayoko. The next second, she felt Sayoko stiffen for a moment but still pushed the wheelchair as if nothing had happened. Nunnally's hands clenched her skirt, trying not to let her worry show.

Then, someone jumped directly in front of her and grabbed her hands and said in a speedy tone, _"AwakenNunnallyviBritannia!"_

_!_

As the words spilled out of her assaulter's mouth, memories that were her own and yet not _her's_ flooded into her mind. Zero, SAZ, the Black Rebellion and it's predecessor, Lelouch the Demon, Damocles, and-

Nunnally's eyes snapped open as the memory of her brother bleeding before her, dead, flashed before her. Then she realized what she did and the 101th empress of Britannia was sitting in the place of Nunnally.

"Wha-" she whispered softly in awe and bewilderment, "- how?"

That's when she heard a yelp behind her. She turned around to see probably Sayoko pinning down a man that looked remarkably like an older version of her brother. He looked up at her, steel-violet eyes pleading.

"Sayoko, please get off of him!" she said quickly.

Sayoko blinked before getting off the man. He crawled away from her and to Nunnally's wheelchair, his actions jittery.

"Sorry about that, that's what my speedy entrance was for..." the man said sheepishly, his bangs sliding from his forehead to reveal the code on the skin.

"You're an immortal like CC?" she said softly.

He nodded. "It's kind of a long story, you need to get back home anyway, but basically, I brought Suzaku, his wife and a geass-user named Rai in front of us but Ansel in front of others back with me to save your brother and rewrite the past. I just awakened you, or I gave you your memories from the original timeline."

Nunnally's eyes widened further. "My brother's alive?" she whispered.

The man nodded. "Right now, we're back to when Suzaku enrolled in Ashford Academy and in a few minutes, you'll be back at your dorm."

Nunnally blinked. "I kind of already know that. Why did you tell me all of that?"

The man opened his mouth to reply before he face-palmed. Nunnally sweat-dropped before the man then offered her his hand.

"I'm Sir Dash," he stated.

Nunnally's mouth twitched up at the man before she shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

Then the man shuddered slightly when he saw Sayoko looking at him with an expression that would deep-freeze a nuclear reactor. Nunnally looked back at Sayoko.

"Sayoko, can you please give him your hand?" Nunnally asked the Japanese maid.

Her eyes narrowed, but held out her hand to the man, who took it in his own and his code shimmered underneath his bangs as he said, _"Awaken Sayoko Shinozaki."_

Sayoko's eyes became filmed with red rings before they faded away a few seconds later. She looked surprised but then her expression became normal again. "This is..."

The Japanese woman looked at Sir Dash, who looked immensely relieved that he had gotten everything straightened out. "I see," she said simply.

"Um," the man said softly, "I'd prefer if you keep this a secret, especially from Lelouch; I can't awaken him because my power only works on those still alive in the original timeline. The ones who have already been awaken besides you two and the three who came back with me are Jeremiah Gottwald, Lloyd Apslund and Cecile Croomy."

Nunnally nodded. "I see."

She noticed Sir Dash looking uncomfortable now. "What's the matter, Sir Dash?"

Sir Dash blinked as he looked back at the two females but shook his head. "It's nothing."

At that, he began to back up. "I-I have to go now, okay? My situation is similar to that of CC's, so it'd be really bad if Charles finds out about me, or, God forbid, Vincent."

"'Vincent'?" Sayoko raised an eyebrow, "I don't recall hearing of such a person."

"Oh right! I meant VV," Sir Dash corrected himself before turning back to Nunnally, "He's the little boy who you met during the Black Rebellion."

Nunnally remembered the child-like, yet patronizing voice, telling her that he was here to take her home. "That was his name?"

Sir Dash nodded. "He's an immortal like CC and I. And like I said, I _really_ need to get out of here before I'm seen."

With that, he jumped down onto the grass before he waved good-bye. "I'll find a way to continue this conversation. In the meantime, just refer to Suzaku, Mariel and their silver-haired friend for more information. Until we meet again! Buy your tin balls and horde your mothcans; you never know when the apocalypse is going to descend!"

Then, Sir Dash melted into the evening shadows, as if he was never there. Nunnally and Sayoko said nothing for a minute, both a bit surprised at what had just happened.

* * *

"Um..."

"Relax, ya big baby," Mariel chided Rai as she dragged him along to where Lelouch's dorm was behind Suzaku.

"But I've never attended a dinner party," Rai said softly and nervously, "what if I make a bad impression? It's bad enough it's in front of someone Suzaku respects so much, but to do so in front of my boss-!"

"The Black Knights haven't even been formed yet," Mariel said as she set a finger on Rai's lips, silencing him momentarily, "it'll be fine. Just relax and enjoy yourself."

Rai nodded stiffly as the three of them came to the dorm. Suzaku rang the bell and the door opened a moment later, revealing a young Japanese woman in a maid's outfit.

"I'm very sorry," she said in a calm, polite tone, "but my master is currently occupied right now."

"N-no, it's fine," Lelouch vi Britannia's voice, hoarse and choked, came from inside, "dinner's already been set up. I-I just need a moment."

Rai looked back at Mariel and Suzaku but they both seemed to be as confused as he was.

The maid led them inside, just outside of the kitchen. Suzaku looked around, Mariel twirled a strand of hair between her fingers and Rai was becoming bored enough to pay intense attention to his friends's actions to pass the time. Then, about a minute later, Lelouch vi Britannia spoke again,"All right, you can come in."

The maid led them into the next room, where Lelouch vi Britannia was. His expression was calm, but Rai could see the redness of the skin under his eyes and how his expression trembled ever so slightly.

_I don't understand_, Rai thought, _why does he look so-_

However, his thought was cut off as he noticed the other occupant. A young girl with long wavy sandy brown hair, lavender eyes and kind expression in a wheel chair was by Lelouch vi Britannia's side.

_That's-!_

* * *

_It was just another week before he, Sir Dash, Suzaku and Mariel would leave for the past and he and the married couple were taking a break in the living room. Mariel was curled up by Suzaku on the sofa and Rai was sitting in one of the armchairs._

_"That was a good meal," Suzaku said softly as he flickered through the channels lazily._

_Mariel smiled as she furrowed deeper into Suzaku's embrace. "Polish stew is good stew," she crooned sleepily._

_Rai couldn't help but chuckle at how happy the to looked together. Their happiness was contagious._

_Just then, Suzaku stopped at one channel, showing a young woman in her mid-twenties. She stood tall and proud before the camera, but her expression was gentle, humble and kind, a smile on her lips. She wore robes of pure white with no adornments or lace or jewels._

_"It has been ten years since the founding of the U.F.N. In that time, we have gone where none of us could have ever gone as a divided world. We have reached heights that we could never have even imagined of as a divided world!"_

_Her smile widened as she then said, "Let us keep working together, for a brighter future!"_

_The anthem played out before it went to commercial, but Rai continued to stare at the screen._

_"You okay there?" Mariel asked in a drawling tone, "ya look kinda smitten."_

_Rai looked back at them. "Who was she?"_

_Suzaku smiled. "That was Nunnally vi Britannia. She's Lelouch's little sister and the current Empress of the U.S.A."_

_His expression became softer. "She was the main reason Lelouch founded the Black Knights."_

_Rai said nothing but continued looking at the screen, the young woman's face still flashing before him._

Nunnally...

* * *

"Nunnally, your eyes-!" Suzaku said softly, going to her side.

At that, Nunnally's, apparently, eyes were pricked with tears. "Suzaku," she said softly, clasping his hand in her own, "thank goodness you're all right."

"I can't believe it... when did your eyes open back up?"

"Just today, when I was on my walk with Sayoko," she answered.

Mariel smiled softly, and Rai continued to stare. It was then Lelouch vi Britannia noticed the two of them.

"You must be Mariel and Ansel Lubie," he said politely, holding his hand to Mariel, "I'm Lelouch Lamperouge."

The young woman looked almost startled at his gesture but accepted the hand and shook it.

_That's right; Mariel worked for Lelouch vi Britannia when he was the emperor of Britannia in the original timeline. And if Suzaku's word about back then is accurate, she had a lot of respect for him._

"It's nice to meet you," Mariel said softly before Lelouch vi Britannia withdrew and offered his own hand to Rai.

"L-likewise," the silver-haired boy got out as he tentatively shook the other's hand, feeling the raven-haired teen's amethyst eyes subtly bore into his own crystal blue eyes.

_Lelouch vi Britannia, no, Lelouch... you and I will be working together very soon..._

"This is my younger sister, Nunnally Lamperouge," Lelouch said, gesturing to the girl in the wheelchair.

She smiled brightly before offering her hand to Mariel and Rai. "It's nice to meet you both," she said, her eyes shimmering with kindness.

Mariel grinned before she shook her hand and Rai shakily returned the favour.

"Are you all right?" Nunnally asked, "your hand's trembling very much."

Rai shook his head. "I'm fine."

With that, they three of them were seated down at the table. Suzaku and Mariel were sitting side by side, Lelouch on Suzaku's other side. Nunnally was sitting on her brother's side, which left the last place between Nunnally and Suzaku for Rai. The silver-haired boy discreetly sat down and they all began eating the meal that was set in front of them.

"Shall we eat?" Nunnally said sweetly, before picking up one of her utensils.

With that, the five of them began eating the food set out for them. Some lamb soup, stroganoff a fresh pot of tea, some pitchers with cream and milk and some assorted cakes were set out for all five of them.

"This is really good!" Mariel stated after she finished another bite of the creamy meat dish.

"Thank you," Lelouch said politely as he sipped some of his tea.

"I'm so happy that you're all right Suzaku," Nunnally said, her expression happy and relieved, "you'll stay the night, won't you?"

"I've been enrolled here, along with Mariel and Ansel, so I can see you anytime," Suzaku informed her.

"Really?"

"But I still have military duties, so I can't be here every day."

"I see..."

"Don't worry, I was moved to the engineering corp.; it's a lot less dangerous there."

"The engineering corp?" Lelouch cut in, "It sounds pretty cool."

"Speaking off which," Nunnally then leaned forward to the brunet, "is it true that you two are going to get married?"

"Guilty as charged, Nunna," Mariel said, grinning her trademark grin, "Suzaku and I are indeed going to be married!"

"That's so wonderful!"

Rai kept his eyes on the food in front of him, feeling even more awkward now, only to realize a moment later that Lelouch was looking at him.

"Er, is something the matter, Mr. Lamperouge?"

"I was wondering if you could tell us how the three of you met," Lelouch said, smiling disarmingly, but Rai wasn't fooled.

"Er, I'm not a very good story-teller," Rai said quickly, waving him off, "but Mariel would be happy to tell it."

Mariel nodded eagerly.

* * *

Dash shivered but kept his teeth from chattering.

_It's so cold out here,_ he thought as he took his pack and set it down before rummaging through it,_ it's amazing anyone can live here._

His fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the shovel and began to dig. After a while, a sizable hole stood out. Dash then took the other object and set it into the hole before he covered the hole back up with the dirt before he cut his hand on one of the rocks he was putting over it.

"Tsk!" Dash hissed softly before the cut healed.

He rubbed his hands together frantically before blowing on them, trying to get the appendages and digits to warm up. He hadn't dared wear gloves because he didn't trust himself not to fumble with such a delicate operation.

"Well, at least that's the last one," he said to himself softly, before wiping some of the swear off of his forehead before he groaned, "for this part at least..."

"Who are you?"

Dash froze where he was at the voice addressing him. "Who's there?"

He looked around, before seeing a young man with black hair and glasses a few meter away from him. "What are you doing out here? You could catch a bad chill if you stay out so long."

"Er," Dash began, his mind racing to find a good excuse, "I mean-"

"Wait," the man said softly before adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the other male, "you're Britannian, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah," Dash admitted, "but I'm not here to do any harm."

At that, the man smiled softly. "You look so cold. Would you like to warm up a bit?"

Dash blinked. "Really?"

"Come along," the man said, motioning Dash over to him.

The immortal hesitated for a moment before following the bespeckled man. After a while, they came to a small dwelling underneath a collapsed building. The man gestured to a hidden door before he knocked a few times on it. A moment later, a young woman with pale brown hair and black eyes opened the door. She sighed with relief at the sight of the bespeckled man before she noticed Dash.

"You're-!" the woman exclaimed in surprise, before turning to the man, "What's someone like him doing here, Yuichi?!"

"It's all right, Aya," the man, Yuichi said gently.

"It's very nice to meet you, ma'am," Dash said politely, before he bowed to her.

Aya looked startled at this before she stood aside and let them both in. It was a humble place, with a few chairs, a low table and two mattresses laid on the floor. A small fire just underneath a vent was flickering brightly, the smoke drifting lazily up and through the gaps in the metal.

Yuichi motioned Dash over to sit near the fire. The raven-haired immortal sat down and sighed contentedly as the fire warmed him up.

"Thank you very much, Yuichi and Aya-sans," Dash said to them as he rubbed his hands together, the added friction making his hands warm up faster before he held one out to them, "I'm Dash."

"What are you doing here?" Aya asked sternly, eyes narrowing at him.

"Please don't be rude, Aya," Yuichi said gently before turning back to Dash, "though it is pretty odd for a Britannian to be so far into the Ghettos."

Dash frowned slightly. What would he say?

"... you've heard of Zero, right?" Dash asked.

Both nodded.

"I'm a comrade of his, on an important mission."

Aya and Yuichi stared in shock. "Are you serious?!" Yuichi exclaimed.

"Why would Zero enlist Britannians?!" Aya questioned.

"He doesn't care what nationality you are, nor your past actions; so long as you serve him with unwavering loyalty," Dash explained, a determined expression on his face, "then he will accept you."

Yuichi and Aya looked amazed at this. "Is this true?"

Dash nodded. "Listen; soon, Viceroy Cornelia plans to duplicate the Shinjuku incident here, in Saitama Ghetto, to draw Zero into a trap."

"What?! She plans to slaughter us all?!" Yuichi cried out, looking genuinely horrified.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"And what do you propose we do about it, hm?" Aya asked, angrily, "there's no way we can get every single person out before she attacks! And even if we do try to do so, they'll get suspicious of so many _Elevens_ moving!"

"That's what I'm here for."

Aya blinked. "Huh?"

* * *

Elle seethed, her expression bordering on murderous, if it hadn't looked such a way already, while Suzaku observed her, sweat-dropping.

"Fucking bastards!" she snapped for the fifth time in a row as she angrily scrubbed at her husband's shirt by his side.

"It's okay, Elle, really," Suzaku said gently, "there's nothing they've done to me that hasn't been done before."

"I don't give a damn!" the bluenette huffed angrily as she scrubbed harder on the "Ghetto" painted on the shirt, "It gives them no right, none whatsoever! It's fucking sickening!"

"Geez..."

After a while, the stains had been gotten out and Elle handed it back to Suzaku and the bluenette was in a much better mood.

"Whoa," he said, amazed as he beheld the white shirt, "I can't even tell that it was even written on, with red ink no less."

Elle grinned, showing all her teeth. "That's the power of a housewife!"

Suzaku smiled gratefully, his expression tinged with sadness. "Where would I be without you, Elle?"

Elle simply touched his face with her palm, smiling kindly at him before his hand came to her, their fingers entwining and fitting with each digit perfectly. Just then, Suzaku heard a small _click_ before he noticed a small flash from the bushes from the courtyard. the bushes rustled slightly and he could hear, albeit faintly, some voices, some male, some female.

"It seems we have an audience," Suzaku murmured, before taking Elle's hand and gently kissing the back of it, his lips brushing over the knuckles before he trailed down to her wrist.

Elle grinned before she pulled the brunet closer to him, so their bodies were flushed up against each other's. "Then let's be sure to give 'em a good show."

Suzaku's mouth twitched, resisting the urge to let a perverted grin spread on his face as he leaned in closer, along with Elle, their lips just a few centimeters away-

_"Meow~"_

Suzaku and Elle blinked before looking down at the source, both of their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Arthur, in front of them, wearing the mask of Zero. The cat ran away a moment later, the two staring after it with expressions of bewilderment.

"Mariel! Suzaku!" Rai exclaimed as he ran up to them, "Did you see that-"

Then he saw the position they were in and stopped before averting his eyes, his face turning red. "Um, did I interrupt you guys?"

"No, you didn't," Elle admitted before she and Suzaku withdrew.

"But, you saw that too, right?" she said to Suzaku.

The brunet nodded. "The school's about to turn into a nuthouse any second."

Rai blinked. "What do you-?"

"Attention everyone!" At that, Milly's voice boomed over the speakers, "This is Milly Ashford, your student council president. Cat hunt, everybody! There's a cat loose on campus that needs to be rounded up. Put everything on hold, people. Participating clubs will get budget priority. And whoever catches our feline friend will get an extra special prize: A big old kiss from one of the members of the council!"

Then, she cackled in a spirited and excited, yet deadly and evil way, making all three time traveler's skin crawl before snapping out of it.

"And that's our cue!" Suzaku said, "We can't let anyone catch that cat or Lelouch's cover will be blown! I'll head for the tower," he turned to Elle, "you can check the bottom levels of the Academy," and he then turned to Rai, "and you can search the courtyard! We don't know if everything will remain the same in this timeline, so we can't take any chances!"

"Right!" both Elle and Rai nodded before they took off, Suzaku turning in the direction of the clocktower.

"I still can't believe how close I came to ending Zero's reign before it even started!" Suzaku said to himself, "No wonder Lelouch was so desperate to get Arthur before anyone else! And I can't even imagine what Milly would do if she had gotten ahold of info like that the first time around..."

Suzaku shuddered.

* * *

Elle raced through the halls, barely avoiding the other students as they clambered about, trying to find Arthur.

_Geez, I sure feel sorry for the members of the student council,_ she thought, smiling ruefully.

As she rounded the corner, Elle heard some footsteps coming her way. She looked in the direction in time to see a student wearing nothing but a blue swimsuit with long orange-brown hair and chartreuse colored eyes.

Elle blinked in surprise. _This is Shirley Fenette?_

"Hey sweetie," Elle said, "what are ya doing out here wearing that?"

"I just came from swim practice," Shirley explained before shivering from the cold, "I can't let anyone catch that cat or Milly'll make us kiss some total stranger!"

Elle said nothing but remembered briefly...

* * *

_Suzaku sighed before setting down the flowers in front of the grave. It was a rainy day, the grey clouds obscuring any trace of the sky or the sun. He held the umbrella over him and Elle both as they looked at the grave before them._

_"Suzaku," Elle said softly, "who is this?"_

_"Her name was Shirley Fenette," Suzaku said sadly, "she was apart of the student council and a really good friend, the first one I made at Ashford Academy."_

_"How did she die?"_

_At that, Suzaku's face darkened. "It was Rolo. He killed her because he thought she'd hurt Lelouch."_

_He chuckled darkly. "Shirley would never hurt Lelouch, not when she loved him so much."_

_Elle looked surprised. "Did he...?"_

_Suzaku shook his head. "He said that he didn't know, that during that time, he was more concerned with protecting her than anything."_

_Elle said nothing but looked back at the grave._

_"Because of the way she was found, they ruled it as a suicide. The funeral... I've never felt so upset for anyone's sake than Mrs. Fenette. Losing her husband one year, then her daughter the next- it's heartbreaking."_

_Elle's expression became sorrowful, trying to hold back tears at such a tragedy._

_"How terrible..."_

* * *

"Er, are you okay?"

Elle snapped out of the memory as Shirley addressed her and an idea began forming in her head.

"We can go look for this cat together! Whaddya say?" she asked the amber-haired girl, grinning as she held out her hand to her.

"Really?" Shirley said, surprised.

Elle nodded, before her eyes gleamed. "And I know just where to look, too!"

* * *

Rai raced through the courtyards, looking as hard as he could for Arthur. However, he could see no sign of the cat.

_I hope Mariel and Suzaku aren't having as much bad luck as I am,_ the silver-haired boy thought.

As he stopped to rest for a moment, barely avoiding some students stampeding through the yards (some were even on horses), a motorcycle sped right by him, barely missing the silver-haired boy, a very familiar set of cackles fading away with the sounds of the engine. Rai twitched slightly at that as he tried to regain his composure.

"Ansel?"

Rai turned around to see Nunnally and a green-haired girl with glasses and braids (_Nina Einstein_, he noted) who seemed to be following the motorcycle.

"Are you looking for the kitty, too?" Nunnally asked.

Rai nodded.

Nunnally smiled sweetly at him. "In that, case, you can join us while we look too!"

Rai blinked. "Really? But you're all part of the student council, aren't you?"

Nunnally simply chuckled. "I don't mind being kissed by anyone from the student council; they're all my friends!"

The silver-haired boy nodded again, a smile coming on his lips. With that, Rai joined the two girls and resumed the search. During so, Rai couldn't help feeling a little more than anxious as he looked for Arthur. What if someone asked to kiss-

"Um..."

Rai looked up from where he was looking under the bushes at Nina Einstein, who fidgeted with her braids a bit.

"What is it?" he asked, standing up.

"Er- I mean- Your sister, Mariel-" Nina Einstein began after a bit of stuttering.

The silver haired boy groaned mentally. "I'm not going to talk her out of marrying Suzaku."

If it was just the one time, he wouldn't have felt annoyed. However, it had happened once, twice, trice and quite a few more than that. What was especially jarring was that all the students who approached him really thought they were doing something right; they truly thought Mariel was better off without Suzaku, without even seeing how happy he made her!

"If you want to take it up anyone, take it up with her," Rai stated sternly, "and if you want my view on it, Mariel's better off with Suzaku than any of the bastards in this school."

She flinched at Rai's words. "But- but-"

At that, Rai rounded at her, his expression dark. "Suzaku makes my sister happy. They love each other with every fiber of their being! I can't ask for anything more than that. If you would open your eyes, just once, then you would see it as well."

That's when Rai realized that Nunnally had been looking over at him and listening, as were a few other students.

"I think it's very sweet you're so supportive of them," Nunnally said kindly.

Rai smiled in spite of himself. "Thank you."

* * *

Lelouch heaved in deep breathes before he took off running again.

He still had trouble believing something so absurd was happening to him right now. A cat had made off with the mask he used when he acted as Zero and now it was loose on the school grounds. Even worse, Milly had halted all classes and activities and said that whoever participated would have a higher budget for their respective clubs and whoever caught the cat themselves would get a kiss from the one of the student council members.

"Come on, where are you, you lousy feline?" Lelouch muttered angrily as he looked/ ran.

Then, he saw the cat run through the entrance of the clock/bell tower just a few meters ahead of him. He put in an extra burst of speed and made it to the tower, only to run into Suzaku, who by the looks of it, was also chasing after the furball.

"Don't... tell me you're after it too, Suzaku," Lelouch rasped, trying to collect enough air to soothe his lungs, "you've already got Mariel..."

"It just sounded like fun," Suzaku shrugged, "besides, even if I do get it, I'll just give it to someone else."

"Just... leave it to me, okay?"

However, Suzaku began running up the stairs and Lelouch had no choice but to go after him. However, he was already bone tired from all the activity he had gone through today, coupled with his abysmal physical strength and the fact he had never done so much running in a single day before, it was the raven-haired teen could do not to collapse as he fought on, following his childhood friend up the tower.

"Just give up, Lelouch," Suzaku told him playfully, "I've always been stronger than you."

"Quit talking ancient history!"

"Seven years isn't ancient history. Besides, you're the one who insisted I was an 'exercise nut'!"

"Stop lording that over me!"

"Stop skipping out on gym class!"

Lelouch blinked. How did he know he skipped gym class-?

However, his question was cut short as Suzaku made it to the top before he did and crawled out the window onto the roof.

_Shit!_ Lelouch frantically ran up, ignoring the burning pain in his legs and lungs as he too climbed out of the window and began crawling up the roof behind Suzaku. "Please Suzaku, don't!"

"It'll be okay Lelouch," Suzaku replied, giving him a thumbs up, "just stay right where you are!"

"Suzaku, wait!" he exclaimed, reaching out towards Suzaku and trying to crawl after him, only for his pant leg to get caught on the roof.

_No no NO!_ Lelouch thought in horror, _what do I do?! I can't let him see it!_

Lelouch tried to free his leg, only for him to pull too hard, bang his knee against the roof, which somehow actually made him topple backwards and slam against the roof back first before he began sliding down.

* * *

Suzaku turned back in time to see Lelouch start to slide down the roof.

_Oh no! I won't make it in time!_ he realized as Lelouch got closer to the edge of the roof.

At that, an arm reached out and grabbed Lelouch's ankle just before he reached it. After a moment, the rescuer was revealed to be Shirley, who was leaning out the window with Elle gripping her by the towel tied around her waist.

"I've got you, don't worry Lulu!" she said as she tightened her grip on the limb.

"Shirley!" Lelouch exclaimed, "how did you-?"

However, he was cut off again when he began slipping and Shirley leaned forward further and her other hand gripped his ankle, pulling her further out of the window. At the same time, the knot holding the towel became undone and Shirley slipped out of it and Elle's hands. Suzaku was already sliding down and grabbing the back of the uniform top that Shirley was wearing before pulling both students to safety.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked.

Shirley nodded, looking more than a bit freaked out while Lelouch said, "I am now."

Out of the corner of his eye, Suzaku saw Arthur bang his head against the bell, making it clang before the mask fell off and onto the roof behind them.

* * *

Nunnally breathed a sigh of relief. That was a much closer call than the first time around.

"Thank goodness," she said gratefully.

Ansel, or Rai as Dash called him, also sighed. "For a moment there, I thought they were all done for. But how did Shirley Fenette get up there?"

"Hey look! Someone's coming down now!" a student exclaimed before the others turned to the entrance.

"Come on!" Nunnally urged Rai.

With that, Rai pushed Nunnally's wheelchair forward to the front with Nina Einstein following them before they were joined a moment later by Rivalz and Milly.

"Ah, look who's come to join us!" Milly Ashford chirped cheerily before her eyes gleamed, "I wonder who the lucky one who got the cat is."

The figure stepped out of the shadows was revealed to be Shirley, whose face was bright red as she carried Arthur the cat out before she was followed by Suzaku, Elle and Lelouch. Briefly, Nunnally wondered what happened inside the tower, but brushed it aside as Milly and Rivalz rushed forward to greet them. She and Rai followed suit, with Nina trailing after them.

"Well done, Shirley!" Milly Ashford congratulated her, "you got the kitty!" before she turned to Suzaku, "and thank you for rescuing my vice-president and historian!"

"Yeah, I really thought that Shirley and Lelouch were goners for a second there!" Rivalz commented, rubbing the back of his head before giving Suzaku a thumbs-up sign, "you really saved the day there, new guy!"

"It's nothing, really-"

"I don't call saving two people from a gruesome death nothing, Suzaku," Lelouch cut in.

"Thank you so much for saving my brother," Nunnally said, smiling happily.

"Wait, do you two know each other?" a student suddenly asked form the crowd, the question clearly directed at Lelouch.

"What, are you two friends or something?"

"Yes, yes we are," Lelouch said loudly and for all to hear, "and Madame President," he addressed Milly, "I'd like to ask that Suzaku be apart of the Student Council."

The other students gasped in surprise. Nina Einstein shrank back from beside Rai. "But... he's an Eleven."

Nunnally frowned. If there was one thing she didn't welcome from this second chance, it was Nina reverting back to the way she used to be before, especially before she met Angie.

"Well, I think it's a good idea," Shirley said stoutly.

"You are the vice-president," Milly mused, "I don't see why not to refuse you. But back to the matter at hand-"

At that, Milly grabbed Shirley's arm and puled her forward to the student council. "Now then, who shall be the one to grace you with a kiss?"

At that, Shirley's face turned red again as she looked over at the members. Finally, after about a minute and the entire student body there yelling, "JUST CHOOSE ALREADY!", she finally got out a name.

"L-L-Lulu..."

Lelouch blinked, but stepped forward to Shirley, who was now beginning to tremble all over before Lelouch placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. The next second, Shirley had slumped backwards in a dead, but very happy, faint, Milly catching her before she hit the ground, cackling all the meanwhile. Nunnally beamed at this; she was really happy for Shirley.

"Is it always this hectic?" Rai asked, sweat-dropping.

"I prefer to think of it as 'lively'," Nunnally said, chuckling at Rai's expression, "and you looked like you were having fun today too, huh?"

Rai blushed slightly but he smiled as well. "Yeah, I did."

Nunnally blinked before she realized that she was still staring at the silver-haired boy before she looked back at her brother. There was a strange look in his eyes as he looked back at the two of them.

_Brother?_

* * *

Rai fidgeted again as he stood at the assembly. Really, would it kill them to have some chairs to sit in, or at least let them it on the floor? His feet and legs were killing him after all of that running!

_This is supposed to be Prince Clovis's funeral ceremony,_ Rai thought, before a frown crossed his face, a_nd even if they all knew about the horrors he committed that day, they wouldn't care. It's awful..._

Then, the Britannian National Anthem began playing and the students stood up straighter. Rai just groaned and hoped that assembly would be over soon. However, the next moment, as it showed a painting of Prince Clovis and his coffin, someone came up to the camera.

_Holy crap, that old man is enormous!_ was Rai's first thought before he properly examined the man on camera.

The old man was indeed large, in height and width. He had long white hair that was in the style of a wig that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, yet he made it look oddly intimidating. He wore a violet dress coat with white cravat and a red cape on his shoulders. When he opened his mouth to speak, it all but drowned out the anthem.

"All men... are not created equal," he stated," Some are born swifter afoot. Some with greater beauty. Some are born into poverty. And others are born sick and feeble, both in birth and upbringing. In sheer scope of ability, every human is inherently different. Yes, that is why people discriminate against one another. Which is why there is struggle, competition and the unfaltering march of progress."

At that, his voice became louder, and slightly more impassioned. "Inequality is not wrong, equality is! What of the E.U., which made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest. The Chinese Federation with its equal distribution of wealth? A nation of lazy dullards! But not our beloved Britannia. We fight, we compete! Evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward, advancing steadily into the future. Even the death of my son Clovis demonstrates Britannia's unswerving commitment to progress. We will fight on! We shall struggle, compete, plunder and dominate! And in the end, the future shall be ours. _All hail Britannia!"_

_"All hail Britannia!"_ echoed in the gym, over and over.

If Rai hadn't though that anything else about Britannia today repulsed and shocked him, he was proven wrong here and now. The utter hypocrisy and unfairness and just plain disgusting ideals presented before him were truly mind-boggling!

_We have to win,_ Rai thought, his teeth gritting in determination, _no matter what!_

* * *

Longest chapter in SotR yet. Hope you enjoyed it.

A historian's job in a student council to to find out about up-coming events that the student council has to help out with and they are generally very good students in terms of academics and personality.


	7. Chapter 7

FallenAngelitz: I'm glad you like it. I was surprised it got that long too.

Vin: (Reads the review a few times before a grin spreads on my face and I begin to type both my replies.)

Vin: No.

Now before you go raging at me for not including your favorite pairing, I have some very good reasons:

1. The timeline; Kallen and Gino were originally married a few years after Zero Requiem, and they wouldn't be very happy with me trying to put Lelouch between them after all of this time.

2. Her feelings; I don't believe that Kallen's feelings for Lelouch were truly romantic. I know and acknowledge that she cared about him and wanted to protect him, but it wasn't necessarily romantic, she just thought it was.

3. As much as the pairing has it's appeal and how much I like it; it's kind of overdone. This is my opinion, don't hate me for it.

4. Lelouch/ Shirley needs more love.

(Attention readers! If you wish to know the pairings, then read this; if not, then don't.)

Mariel Lubie/ Suzaku Kururugi

Dash Lamperouge/ CC

Kallen Kouzuki/ Gino Weinburg

Lelouch vi Britannia/ Shirley Fenette

Rai/ Nunnally vi Britannia

Nina Einstein/ Angie

Milly Ashford/ Rivalz Cardemonde

The canon pairings are already as follows: Lloyd Apslund/Cecile Croomy, Gilbert G. Guilford/ Cornelia li Britannia, Jeremiah Gottwald/ Sayoko Shinozaki, and Kaname Ohgi/ Villeta Nu.

lightshadow101: I'm happy you love the story.

Nina's gonna change, obviously.

* * *

Kallen yawned.

She was currently walking to school, since it was a nicer day out than usual, even after the rain that had come that night, soaking everything and making a mist come around in the earlier morning. The air smelled sweet and the air was refreshingly cool. She really would have enjoyed the day if she hadn't been constantly surrounded by every reminder why everything was not all right.

_Zero,_ she thought, _a pensive expression on her face, can you truly help us regain Japan?_

As she thought this, she saw a figure near the fountain of the plaza she had been walking through. She couldn't make out the figure very well. She stepped forward a bit more before she saw the figure.

It was a tall man, with long dark hair, sitting on the fountain. His clothing was covered in dirt, as was his face. His face was drawn and pale, his head bowed. He also looked disturbingly like an older, cooler version of Lelouch Lamperouge.

_Who is this?_ Kallen wondered as she stood over him.

Then, the man's head lifted up to meet her eyes, half-lidded steel violet looking into turquoise. The lids widened a fraction before he shot up, grabbing her wrist in a vice-grip.

"What the- Get off of me!" Kallen snapped as she tried to shake him off, but to no avail.

He then grabbed her face and looked deep into her eyes before his bangs parted, revealing a red v-like mark shimmering on his forehead.

_"Awaken, Kallen Kouzuki!"_ he rasped before Kallen broke free.

_!_

"... wha?" Kallen said softly, her eyes wide with realization as memories that were hers but not hers flooded through her until a minute later, it stopped.

Dropping her bag, Kallen quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket and checked the calender.

_This isn't possible!_ Kallen thought in shock, nearly dropping the cell phone.

The last thing she had remembered was waking up to find Gino sprawled on the floor after she had accidentally kicked him off during her sleep. So how the hell did she get twelve years into the past, when Japan was Area 11?!

"Urgh..."

Kallen's remembrance was cut off as the Lelouch look-alike swayed before slumping forward. She quickly caught him before he hit the ground. Just before he fell unconscious, the Lelouch look-alike shakily raised his hand and stuck a pamphlet on Kallen face. It stayed stuck to the skin thanks to some sort of tape or sap.

"What the-?" Kallen muttered as she took the paper off her face.

"To Kallen Kouzuki", it said in scribbled text. She put it in her bag as she got it off the ground before backtracking to her house, dragging the other man with her.

_It's not like I can leave him out here,_ the redhead thought as she managed to get to the front of the house before ringing the bell. She waited about a minute before the door unlocked with a click and opened, revealing her mother.

"Kallen...?" Yukiko Kouzuki said softly, a confused expression on her face, "What are you doing home so-"

"Mother," Kallen said before hauling her unconscious baggage up so her mother could see him, "could you give me a hand?"

* * *

_Kallen looked up at the ceiling of her room._

_It was just a few hours after Zero's debut and their rescue of Suzaku Kururugi. Unfortunately, the idiot refused to join Zero and went right back to his trial like a trained dog. Now, it nearly five in the morning and she couldn't sleep at all, even though she was exhausted._

_The main reason for her insomnia was her newfound friend's words from earlier the day before._

Is that really why she's been staying all these years? _Kallen thought, feeling nauseated._

_Just then, she heard a crash outside her room. She had gotten so used to these kind of accidents at the odd ends of a day or night, it didn't really phase her anymore. She got off her bed and walked over to her door, opening it up. She could faintly make out her mother's figure kneeling down beside something she had broken._

_"Er, I'm sorry for waking you up, mistress," she said softly, "I'll clean it-"_

_"Why are you still here?"_

_The woman's head jolted up at this. "Huh?"_

_"Why are you still here?" Kallen asked again, "Why do you keep hanging around here as a servant, even though you're good at nothing whatsoever?!"_

_"... I'm not good at anything, you're right," her mother admitted, "I'm clumsy, I'm not good at cooking, and I'm not very elegant either."_

"All I really can do... is be there for my children."

_Kallen stared before her legs gave out beneath her. What Rai said back there had been true. Her mother was enduring all of this so she could be close to her only child. Tears gathered in her eyes before they spilled down her face, overwhelming guilt and shame wracking her being._

_"I'm- I- I'm so sorry," she rasped, her shoulders shaking, "I thought you were staying because you wanted to be close t-to father, because you couldn't let it go that he married another woman- And I've been so cruel to you-"_

_Her mother's arms came around her, holding her daughter close. "It's alright. It's alright, darling."_

_Any coherence she had dissolved then and there as she sobbed quietly in her mother's embrace. In the back of her mind as she cried, Kallen dared that old crow to show up and try to break them up or say something degrading about either of them._

* * *

Kallen and her mother heaved the man inside and up the stairs until they made it to one of the guest rooms and laid the man down on the bed.

"I'll go get some towels and clothing," her mother said before she left, "please keep an eye on him, okay?"

Kallen nodded as her mother left. She took the pamphlet back out and opened it up, reading the contents.

_"My name is Sir Dash Lamperouge, a code bearer like CC. I brought Suzaku and Mariel Kururugi, as well as a Geass user named Rai, back in time to save Lelouch vi Britannia and change the past. I can awaken those who are still alive in the original timeline. I have awakened Jeremiah Gottwald, Sayoko Shinozaki, Lloyd Aplsund, Cecile Croomy, Nunnally vi Britannia and as of now, you."_

_Well, that explains a lot now,_ Kallen thought.

_So this man brought those guys back in time to save Lelouch? Wait, this could mean so much more than that; we could make the Black Rebellion succeed, we could beat the emperor in one go! We could-_

Kallen stopped. This Dash could only awaken those who had lived in the original timeline.

_That means Lelouch can't get back his memories,_ she realized, a pit in her stomach sinking.

_"Now you're probably wondering what I was doing covered in dirt and probably falling unconscious on you. I've spent the last several days readying for what could have been Zero's first great victory, but was thwarted because of his over-confidence, Cornelia's experience and the Yamato Alliance chickening out on the last moment. Details for the plans can be found at the end of this pamphlet."_

Kallen looked at the end of the papers, gaining a quick glance of the plans before turning back to the scribbling, before doing a double take, raising an eyebrow. How the hell did he get this kind of information? She glanced over at the man, who was now wrapped in the sheets like a caterpillar in a cocoon before going back to the scribbling.

_"If you have any more questions that I haven't answered with this pamphlet I compiled at the last minute, just ask Suzaku, Mariel or Rai._ _Anyhow, I won't be waking up for a while. I've only held a code for a few years, so my power, while raw, can't be used too often. However, I've been abusing it ever since we got to this timeline in order to help my nephew. When I wake up, just bring any kind of takeout food; ramen, hamburgers, hotdogs, any chocolate you can get your hands on, cherry-flavored punch, a gallon of milk and an Eldritch abomination plushie. I'll probably give you a really hard time when I get up and for that, I'm sorry."_

Kallen stared before rereading the requests. She could get the food and drink, but what was an Eldritch abomination plushie?!

_Still, he can't be worse than CC, can he?_

That's when Kallen noticed a little arrow at the bottom of the page. She flipped it over.

_"P.S: also, bring a few boxes of pizza. I'll need them for negotiations."_

* * *

Kewell wondered if this was the last thing he would ever see.

He and Jeremiah were standing before her highness Cornelia li Britannia, the princess scowling. She had been briefed over their actions during Kururugi's interrupted execution and how Kewell had apparently helped Zero help Kururugi.

"So, during the parade to Kururugi's trial, this Zero showed up, claimed to be Prince Clovis's murderer and you," her eyes flitted over to Kewell, colder than ice, "helped him escape. And you," her eyes flitted over to Jeremiah now, "did nothing to stop him."

"For such loyal subjects of Britannia, you both showed traitorous colors that night."

_This is it,_ Kewell thought in defeat, his eyes averting to the floor.

"However," Kewell looked up at the princess, her expression thoughtful, "you did so to protect the citizens that would have died if the skirmish back then would have escalated into a full fight, as well as protecting Prince Clovis's memory, protecting by 'Orange'."

The amber-haired man looked surprised. When had she heard that? _How_ had she heard that?

"At this point, you both two options: you will either start again as pilots, or retire to an orange farm," her highness stated, a slight smile quirking at her lips at that.

Kewell couldn't believe what he was hearing; here he was, terrified that his best punishment would be either banishment or death, and now he was being offered chances he never expected!

"I will do everything in my power to serve Britannia with everything I have, your highness," Kewell said, bowing down low on his knees.

Jeremiah also bowed before her. "You may expect me to serve the Britannian royal family with everything I have."

Kewell kept his gaze down, not trusting himself to look up before her highness spoke again.

"It pleases me to hear this. You will both get a chance to prove your worth."

* * *

Shirley glanced back at the other student as she petted Arthur. Mariel Lubie was a bit enigmatic, but not because she had up and announced that she and Suzaku were fiances, but because of her quirks.

She was overly chirpy even more so than Shirley, referred to the students as "kiddo", "sweetie", and "hon", much like an adult would do with children, sans with Suzaku and Ansel. She also carried herself with such confidence and reassurance, it was unlike any teenager she had ever seen or met.

Still, she couldn't say or even think anything bad about Mariel, especially after she had helped her save Lulu.

"Hey, Mariel," Shirley addressed the older girl.

"Hm? What's up, sweetie?" Mariel asked, looking up from where she had been petting Arthur, who was snuggled happily in her arms.

"I never got to thank you, for showing me where Lulu was. If you hadn't..."

_He would have fallen off the roof and died._

Shirley shuddered slightly. It was terrifying when she thought how close the boy she cared about came so close to death that day. And how close she had been too.

A twinge shivered through her chest, making her pause. _What was that?_

"It's no problem," Mariel said, waving her off as she stroked Arthur's back before the cat wriggled out and went over to the playground they made for him, "I'm just glad no one got hurt."

"That's not all!" Shirley blurted, "It was also that time..."

* * *

_Shirley collapsed onto the floor, breathing in deeply with relief before Lelouch got up shakily after muttering, "Thank you."_

_Lulu was safe, they were all safe, thank God._

_"Hey."_

_Shirley glanced up to see Mariel holding something to her. It was the cat._

_"What?" she nearly exclaimed, "How did you-?"_

_"Hush," Mariel said gently, before giving the cat to her, "don't say anything, okay? Consider this a favor."_

* * *

"You gave me Arthur back there, but why?"

Mariel chuckled. "Why would I want to kiss anybody else other than Suzaku? He's the only one I want to kiss and be kissed by."

At this, a perverted look, much like Milly's crossed her face. "And among other _things_..."

Shirley's face heated up at what Mariel was saying. "So wait, you two- I mean- I shouldn't have-"

"We've had sex, Shirley," Mariel said, slightly smirking, slightly exasperated, "we've made love, we've done the deed, and we've fucked each other senseless."

Shirley's entire body seemed to flush red at Mariel's words, especially the last part.

"That's- er- um... wow."

Mariel snorted. "That's how I'd describe it, too."

"... um, how did you two meet?" Shirley asked softly.

Mariel grinned at that. "I'd be happy to tell you!"

* * *

(Author's note: this entire next section is total fiction. You know what I mean. This is not how these two met, it's a story that Suzaku and Mariel fabricated.)

* * *

_"Noooo! I'm gonna be late!"_

_Mariel raced through the streets, hair fluttering in the breeze comically._

_"I have to get to my plane at once or else I'll be late for my meeting!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, shooting through the streets like a bullet, before she turned the corner and-_

BAM-CRASH!

_Mariel landed on her butt on the concrete, wincing from the impact._

_"F-forgive me!"_

_Mariel twitched with irritation as she rounded on the person. "Why doncha watch where yer-"_

_A young man, with chocolate curls, emerald green eyes and a chivalrous demeanor looked back at her. "You're not hurt, are you milady?"_

What a gentleman!

_Mariel got back on her feet, now very polite. "I'm super sorry about that. I'll, um, just leave now!"_

_She was about to turn away before the boy called back to her, "Hey, hold on a moment!"_

_She turned, seeing the boy pick up the backpack she dropped. "You dropped this."_

_Mariel nearly squeaked in embarrassment. "Oh, how could I be so clumsy? I'll take that back now."_

_She reached out to the backpack, before her hand gently brushed against the boy's and-_

BANG.

* * *

"It was as if everything in the Multi-verse just clicked into place," Mariel described, "and we just started going out and then before I knew it, he was proposing to me."

"Wow..." Shirley said in an awed tone, before almost squealing, "that's so romantic!"

Mariel chuckled, before a solemn expression crossed her face. "But now all of this is happening..."

Shirley's jubilance stopped there. She knew what Mariel was talking about; Area 11, and Suzaku was an Eleven, too. It was sad, since if anyone decided to interfere, there wouldn't be much that either Mariel and Suzaku could do it others decided to separate them both.

"But hey, enough about me!" Mariel then chirped before plopping next to Shirley on the floor, "Just what are your intentions to this Lulu?"

Shirley blushed at the suggestive tone Mariel took, but replied, "He's a friend."

"Riiight," Mariel said, rolling her eyes, before she looked serious, "if you keep being standoffish, then someone's going to steal him away!"

"But it's not that simple!" Shirley countered, "I don't really know a lot about him... he's really mysterious."

"Oh?"

"You see," Shirley explained, "when I first met him, I thought he was a total jerk. He was apathetic, lazy and he gambled constantly. But one day, there was an accident near the school. Two cars had crashed and the man who was clearly at fault tired to blame the elderly couple who he crashed into. But Lulu resolved the conflict between them and made the man apologize and pay for the damages. That's when I realized that there was so much about him that I didn't know, and well..."

"And now you've developed a crush on the guy because of the qualities that we've seen him show here," Mariel summarized.

Shirley nodded. "But I can't just go up to him and tell him that I like him, not when I know so little about him!"

"But that's why you have to start getting closer to him," Mariel said, pointing upwards with her index finger, "you'll never find out just what about him attracted you if you don't take the initiative! Ask him out or something; dates exist to measure the compatibility of two or more people in a relationship, after all!"

Shirley stared incredulously. Mariel must have been insane or something! She couldn't just go up to Lulu and say 'Hey Lulu, I was thinking we could go on a date so we can see if we're meant to be a couple' or some other things like that!

_Thunk._

Shirley looked up as Mariel suddenly shot out of her seat, and ran out of the room at top speed.

"Huh?"

* * *

Nina gripped her laptop under her arm as she walked through the hallway to the Student Council, warily.

She still didn't understand how he came to Ashford, especially with a Britannian fiance. He was an Eleven, a number, an inferior. He din't belong with them, and Mariel Lubie certainly didn't belong with him, yet she claimed to be betrothed to him.

As she rounded the corner, someone slammed into full speed, knocking her backwards but she clutched onto her computer for dear life.

"Ow..." the person mumbled.

"I-I'm so sorry..." Nina stuttered as she attempted to get on her feet before she saw Mariel, who shook her head as she got to her feet and helped the bespectacled girl back up.

"It's fine, really," she said quickly.

She was about to go about her way, but Nina quickly grabbed her arm to stop her, determined for answers.

"... what?" Mariel asked through slightly gritted teeth, clearly itching to get away.

"I need to talk to you about Suzaku," she said simply, a serious expression on her face.

"Oh yeah? What about him?" Mariel stated with a nonchalant air.

"You really shouldn't marry him," Nina said in an almost stern tone.

"Is that so?" Mariel stated, raising an eyebrow slightly, "And why not?"

"He's not one of us; he's a Number, an Eleven. They're all nothing more than animals, not like us Britannians," Nina replied, "You deserve someone better than him. Why don't you date a Britannian?"

There, she got it out. Mariel's upper face was shadowed now. Nina didn't understand.

"... so let me get this straight," Mariel said before she took a step forward with each word/ sentence, "you're telling me, that just because the man I love with my very being-"

She was right in front of Nina, but continued to step forward, making Nina back away from her.

"- the man who has given me everything I could wish, including his heart, his soul and body; yes his body as well, we have had sex on multiple occasions-"

Nina stared in disbelief as Mariel herded her backwards more.

"- the man I could never deserve in a million years-"

Her demeanor and expression had the fury of thunder and power of lightning as she stood over Nina.

"- the mere fact that he is Japanese, should be reason to throw him away like a piece of trash for a man who is of my nationality but could never love me like he does?!"

Nina shivered under her gaze, fear and shock and confusion mot prominent. "But... but-"

"If your only argument is that he's an Eleven," Mariel finished, her expression and being colder than ice, "then keep your mouth shut."

At that, her expression became softer. "I love him, Nina. I love him with my entire being. He makes me laugh, makes me feel safe, and he gives everything for my sake. If that isn't a reason to give my love to him, then tell me what is."

Nina's speech had been totally stolen as she looked at Mariel. There was no lies in her eyes, no hesitation. She realized that if he had been in danger, Mariel would do nothing less than throw herself in front of him.

"... it's- it's not-"

"If you were to fall in love with someone you're not supposed to be with, you would understand much better, especially if he were Japanese," Mariel said simply, a smile quirking at her lips.

A sharp shudder went up Nina's spine. "That would never happen," she said with finality.

* * *

"So, how's school going for you this time around?"

Suzaku glanced up from his homework at Cecil as she asked. He was currently in the compound, going over the homework given to him during the school day. It was a little strange doing this kind of work again, but it was also pretty easy. Not only was it deja vu, but Elle had personally schooled him herself, putting him through college-level classes even when he had been Zero.

"Pretty well," he said, before chuckling, "actually it's going really well."

"It's wonderful to see everyone like this again, and knowing that there's a chance to help them."

Cecil smiled too. "I'm happy to hear you're doing well."

"Speaking of which, how's the _Lancelot_ doing now?"

"Well, after much persuasion," Cecil's aura became a bit darker and icier for a split second, "Lloyd and I began to work on limiting it just a bit. It's really small, actually. The landsliders have a bit more friction, still far less than the _Sutherlands_ but still slowed down a bit. The reaction time of the suit is just about a few seconds less than normal as well."

She then produced a chip from her pocket. "This contains a program which will restore the Lancelot to it's normal operations-"

"And them some! Don't forget that!" Lloyd's voice came from behind the_ Lancelot_, sounding jovial.

Cecil chuckled. "'And then some' indeed; Lloyd also put in various other enhancements into the program and right now, he's installing them into the_ Lancelot_. When you activate this program, then the enhancements will be unlocked for you."

"You can do that?!" Suzaku exclaimed, eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Of course; don't forget, we have ten years of knowledge about such things," Cecil said, almost smirking.

Suzaku nodded mutely.

_It's almost a video game now..._

* * *

_"Which one of you fuckers messed with my _gameboy_ again?!"_ Dalton barked as he looked away from the screen where a wild Jigglypuff was apparently in the process of _raping_ his Clefairy.

(This isn't part of the story, I just couldn't resist putting this in. Credit goes to PurpleeyesWTF's CodeMENT.)

* * *

Dash blinked his eyes blearily before he looked around a little.

He was in a lavish bed, with a soft mattress, pillow and warm covers over his frame. He felt oddly bare.

He stayed laying in the bed for a while longer, not because he wanted to sleep, but because he felt so comfy and soft. He could get used to this, especially after sleeping on a floor for so long.

He finally sat up, yawning and stretching out his arms. A chill went through his body.

_What the-_

He looked down, seeing his bare chest. He checked under the covers as well before he replaced the covers quickly, a slight blush on his face.

_Okay; I'm in an unfamiliar room. Naked,_ Dash summarized, before his eyebrow twitched.

Just then, the door to the room he was in opened up. Dash let out a startled but manly yelp before he pulled the covers up higher on his body. A young woman with dark cherry-red hair wearing a maid's outfit came in, holding some clothing in her arms.

"Oh, you're awake, sir," she said patiently as she walked over to the dresser by the bed and set the clothing there, "Mistress Kallen says that the items you requested are in the refrigerator on the main floor. Lady Statfeld will be home in a few hours, so you will have adequate time to eat and drink."

Dash blinked, feeling quite confused before he remembered the vents from earlier that day.

_Huh,_ he thought, _I thought I'd feel a lot crankier, considering how little I ate and slept before collapsing. That's why I wrote that I might be unbearable briefly._

"Hey, you're Yukiko Kouzuki, right?" he asked.

The maid blinked before she nodded.

"You don't have to be super-polite around me, I like being casual with people. Also, thank you for the clothing, ma'am," he said politely, bowing his head to her.

She looked a little surprised before a graceful smile touched her lips. "There's no need to be so formal. You can just refer to me as Yukiko."

Dash smiled. "And I'm Dash."

They shook hands before Dash discreetly slipped under the covers to change, even after Yukiko left the room, emerging off the bed about a minute later. He wore a white dress shirt, black pants and grey socks.

"You look much better," Yukiko said s he walked out of the room.

"Thanks. I know I looked like, pardon my expression, shit earlier today," Dash replied as he rolled up his shirt sleeves.

"I've heard worse," the Japanese woman said back, chuckling.

"Is that so..."

After that, Yukiko led Dash down to the main level to the kitchen and the refrigerator. Dash eagerly opened it up, elated to see all of the food he asked Kallen to get him.

"She bought it all before she went to school," Yukiko informed him as he pulled it all out.

"Aw, she's really an angel," Dash sighed happily as he surveyed the assorted food and drink on the counter.

He hopped down into one of the chairs before looking up at Yukiko. "Join me?"

"What a gentleman."

Dash let her pick out the food she wanted, Yukiko taking some of the ramen, a hamburger and some of the milk and punch, as well a box of pocky. Dash immediately took a hamburger and some of the chocolate bars. The two were quiet for a while, both eating the takeout food and milk and punch.

"It's been a while since I've eaten food like this," Yukiko said as she set down the glass of milk.

"Hey, I could help you with these dishes after we're done. Heck, I'll do them all if you want," Dash offered.

"Oh, you don't have to; you're the guest-"

"But I want to."

Yukiko looked a bit surprised by the solemn expression on Dash's face before she sighed. "How can I say no to such enthusiasm?"

* * *

Rai was nervous, but the feeling wasn't new to him.

He was underground, with some of the members of the Yamato alliance, waiting for Zero to arrive.

_Sir Dash,_ Rai thought, even though this is for the greater good, _I feel terrible doing this. They all just want Japan back to the way it was. It doesn't make them bad people..._

He could hear the faint rumble of the _Sutherlands_ above them, before soft whimpers penetrated the air as well. He glanced back from where he was at the people behind two knightmare frames. Men, women, children and elderly all huddled together.

* * *

_Hushed voices murmured around, as children clutched their mothers, and they whispered comforting white-lies to them. Some of the Yamato Alliance members helped the men help the more elderly Japanese down. Sir Dash over-looked them with Rai._

_"Do you think they'll be safe?" Rai asked, "What if they start to get suspicious that there aren't many people in the Ghetto?"_

_Sir Dash smiled. "That's the whole beauty of the plan, my dear Rai. They'll have to go into the Ghetto to find the people."_

* * *

He could faintly hear explosions up above ground. Some people cried out but quickly quieted down. Rai's fist trembled as it smacked against the wall by him. He wished so badly to be up there, fighting beside Zero. It was only by Sir Dash's orders that he stayed down here to protect the Japanese.

"Excuse me..."

Rai glanced back, seeing the one named Yuichi address him. "Will Dash be okay?"

"Yes, he'll be fine, no matter what," Rai answered.

It wasn't a lie. Even if the plan failed, Dash would return, with no permanent harm done to him. Rai sincerely wished that the plan would go through unhinged. The rolling noises from the _Sutherlands_ were getting louder.

* * *

_"You see, I planted various bombs around the site of the Saitama Ghetto-"_

_"I'm already seeing various things wrong with this plan," Rai stated._

_Sir Dash groaned._

_"I liked you better when you weren't so snappy," he muttered under his breath._

_"Anyways," Sir Dash restarted, "these bombs have been programmed to go off at different times. Each explosion will be the trigger for other bombs to activate and start ticking down._

* * *

Sweat trickled down Lelouch's brow and dripped off his face as he maneuvered his _Sutherland_ from the explosions.

_What the hell is going on here?!_ he thought as his ears rung from the explosions around the other robots as they were destroyed by the blasts, _Is this the work of the Yamato Alliance?!_

The bastards had run off, leaving him behind when the bombs started going off, accusing him of trying to blow them up because he was afraid of the competition. As if he'd be scared of thugs like them!

"Damn!" he shouted in surprise as he barely missed a _Sutherland's_ blackened and charred remains.

Another explosion shook the Saitama Ghetto, nearly throwing him off balance. However, another _Sutherland_ suddenly slammed into his side from the blast and it knocked them both over. Lelouch grunted with pain as he was knocked out of his seat, crushed on the floor and his arm in extreme pain.

Every curse Lelouch knew was running through his head as he tried to get the Sutherland up again, but was pinned down pretty good. He had no idea what was going on outside either, his radio had been damaged as well.

As this registered, smoke began to pool inside his cockpit. Lelouch tried to reach for his gas mask, but it was trapped under his seat and his good arm couldn't reach it while the pain from his other arm was beginning to distract any train of thought he tried to start. He tried to open it up, but the _Sutherland_ that had landed on him had blocked the opening.

_No way..._ he thought as he began to cough harshly from the fumes, _is this... really it?_

His vision began to swim and he was faintly aware of something scraping outside of the Sutherland before everything went dark.

* * *

"Your Highness!"

Cornelia looked up at the voice from across the map depicting her troops and the enemy.

It had been so simple. Zero had shown up when the Elevens in Shinjuku had been threatened, so she would simply duplicate the incident at Saitama to lure him out. She knew that Zero would under-estimate her. Clovis was no strategist after all. That was the only reason Zero had won the first time around, she was certain of that.

But now, she was being proven wrong as bombs placed in the Saitama Ghetto devastated her men at every turn.

"What is it?" she asked.

"There's a foreign Knightmare Frame on the field; it's approaching one of the _Sutherlands_!" they reported, before a few seconds passed and they said, "It's a _Glasgow_!"

"A _Glasgow_...?" Cornelia repeated softly before it dawned on her.

She shot up and radioed in so her troops could hear her.

"All units, there is a _Glasgow_ and damaged _Sutherland_ at at Coordinates X-XX!" she barked, "Stop both Knightmare frames from escaping, no matter what!"

* * *

"You. Stupid. Boy," CC enunciated each word as she loaded Lelouch into the cockpit of the _Glasgow_ she managed to steal after it had torn open the _Sutherland_ he had been trapped in.

She sealed the cockpit as she raced away from the site as fast as she could, knowing that at any minute or moment, more imperial troops would show up.

"I told you not to go, I said it'd be a trap. But no," CC muttered as she steered the _Glasgow_ through the wreckage to where the sewers were.

As she steered the Frame through, several more explosions erupted behind her. She didn't stop to see what had happened back there or what would become of the _Sutherlands_.

As she reached the beginning of the Sewers and pulled Lelouch out, she was in time to see several _Sutherlands_ cross across the Ghetto before the entire section they were crossing over collapse underneath them, the ground swallowing the robots up before more explosions went off, destroying the frames further. And the buildings stayed intact all the while.

CC couldn't help feeling a bit of marvel. Did Lelouch plan this? It couldn't be, he only found out about Saitama today, hardly enough time to plan something of this magnitude, even with Geass.

"Hey."

CC glanced up, seeing Mariel Lubie, standing a little ways away from the two of them. CC stared, honestly surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as Mariel approached them.

Mariel simply looked at Lelouch before she knelt down to him. The next moment, her left eye became red with the sigil of Geass.

CC immediately activated her own code to repel the Geass. Mariel looked up at her with a frown.

"CC, I only want to help him," she said, "don't you notice his injuries?"

CC's eyes narrowed. "Did VV send you?" she asked.

Mariel shook her head. "I've never even met him. Please, let me help him."

CC looked down at Lelouch, noticing how his arm was bent at an odd angle, as well as the look of pain on his face. She retracted her power. Mariel's Geass activated again and before CC's eyes, Lelouch's arm began to bend back to a normal position, the look of pain fading from his face. He let out a soft exhale, black smoke breathed out until nothing came out again but Lelouch's own breaths.

Mariel's Geass deactivated and she slumped back, her hand over her left eye. "Absolute Restoration; the ability to restore to a healthier state, especially after different wounds."

She slowly haunched to her feet. "He shouldn't move too much for a while. A day or two should be set aside so he can rest properly."

"... how did you get here?" CC asked, still holding Lelouch to her.

Mariel simply shook her head, smiling. "Woman's intuition," she said, before leaving.

CC just stared after the blunette as she walked away, wondering just what was going on.

* * *

"Good lord."

Jeremiah surveyed the Saitama ghetto from where he was with the other pilots. The ground had complete caved in on some places which swallowed up many of the _Sutherlands_, but many of the buildings hadn't been harmed at all, except for the especially rotting ones, which collapsed on the _Sutherlands_. In short, total devastation on their side.

"Impossible. How could the Elevens plan something like this?" Kewell said softly.

"Why are you asking? You're probably the one who knows how, _Orange_," one of the former Purist Faction members sneered.

Kewell gritted his teeth but kept his eyes riveted on the Ghetto.

"Enough," Jeremiah said sternly, "no one knew that this would happen."

"Of course you'd take his side, Gottwald," another scowled.

"If it weren't for you two, we could have taken those monkeys down!"

"It we had gone in," Jeremiah said calmly, "we would have joined the others in an early grave."

"Tch!" a third sneered before he spat on the ground angrily.

Jeremiah turned back to Kewell, whose fists gripped the rail by his frame tightly, his posture nothing short of defeated.

"Don't listen to them," Jeremiah said softly, "you will get your chance."

Kewell said nothing but a ghost of a smile touched his lips.

* * *

Rai looked up. The explosions had stopped a while ago, but no one ventured up to check, in case there were soldiers up there.

_Zero, please be okay,_ Rai thought.

"Hey, there's someone at the entrance!" one of the members hissed.

Rai strained his ears, indeed hearing someone trying to open the door. He quickly waved off the members before running up to the door himself before anyone could stop him. He knocked on the door with the four's secret knock.

"Rai, I know you're in there," Mariel hissed softly from the other side.

Rai sighed with relief as he let her inside. Some of the members approached them, many of them angry.

"What do you think you're doing?!" one hissed, "Letting in the enemy!"

"She's not an enemy, she's with Zero as well!" Rai retorted softly.

"Bullshit!" another growled.

"I'm with Zero too, aren't I?" Rai said softly, eyes narrowing, "As is the one who put together the plan to save your sorry asses."

That shut them up and Mariel addressed the Japanese.

"The troops are pulling out right now. By nightfall, you'll be able to return to your homes," she said, soft cheers following afterwards, some crying from sheer relief, others slapping each other on the back heartily.

Rai smiled softly at this, but also felt guilty. "I should have treated Sir Dash better. I've been really cranky at him lately."

Mariel simply put hand on his shoulder. "You'll get the chance, kiddo. You'll get the chance. For now-"

At this, a happy smile spread on her face, "For now, we can revel in this victory. So many people have been saved this time around and a huge blow has been dealt to the Britannians."

Rai smiled as well now. "Right."

* * *

Dash glanced up suddenly.

"Dash, what's the matter?" Yukiko asked from where she put away the last dish that Dash had insisted he wash.

_"... choo!"_

The raven-haired man suddenly let out a sneeze before another followed before he gave a little mumble.

Yukiko couldn't help the chuckle escape from her lips at him as he took a tissue and wiped his nose.

"Man, I don't even wanna know..." he murmured into the cloth.

* * *

This chapter's out of the way, thank God!

I've been honestly dreading to write this because I have no idea how to portray the battle other than a total curbstomp. I don't know how to talk army talk or coordinates. So yeah.

Anyways, Mariel's Geass has been revealed now. Absolute Restoration- it allows Mariel to restore a person's health prior to recent injuries. The longer the subject has had the injury/ injuries, the more it takes out of her to heal it, depending on the gap of time and how many and how severe they are.

In case it wasn't clear to anyone, she healed Lelouch's broken arm and took the fumes he had breathed in out of his lungs.


	8. Chapter 8

lightshadow101: I'm glad you liked the chapter.

Rai's alias is **Ansel**, not Angie. Rai will be with Nunnally, Angie will be with Nina. On a side note, Angie is a character from Renya of the Darkness recycled for my story.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion and I respect your opinion and why you have it. Still though... you'd seriously rather me to throw in an entirely new and random character just because you don't want Shirley to be with Lelouch? That's a little severe, doncha think? Besides, they're an attractive couple in their own right.

Also, Kallen isn't so insensitive as to ditch Gino for Lelouch after she's been married to him for years already. Just put yourself in her shoes for a moment; would you honestly ditch you husband, even though you haven't married him yet, for an old boyfriend? In my opinion, it's downright jerkish. However, Kallen will be conflicted. Somewhat.

Dash knows that CC might have feelings for Lelouch, which is why he's going to try his damndest to make her happy and give her all of the love he couldn't give her before.

However, the pairings are set in stone. No matter what happens, those will the who is paired up with who when all's said and done. I really hope this doesn't make you want to drop the story.

Wraith Kone: ...

So, after a chapter with a bunch of cool stuff happening, your only reaction is that I didn't include a shipping you like?

Wow. I mean... _wow_.

koryandrs: I'm glad you like the flow.

Dark Lord: I wonder what would happen if it did happen... hmm, you've given me food for thought.

Guest: I'm happy you love it.

Really, who wouldn't like that pairing?

(Put your hand down, Lelouch.)

You'll see.

Angie'll show up sooner than you think.

Yes, they will.

Again, you'll see. Also, I dunno who he would be in a romantic relationship with...

Oh, it's fine. I like reviews like this one.

* * *

Lelouch winced again before setting down his arm to rest it.

Ever since the battle at Saitama, his arm had been aching quite a bit.

_It could have been worse though,_ he reasoned, _I could have broken it and then I'd be in agony._

"Lelouch?"

The raven-haired boy glanced up at his friend, Suzaku. "Are you okay?"

Lelouch gave him an easy-going smile. "It's fine; just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally."

Suzaku blinked but shrugged. "Well, I hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

_I hope so too,_ he thought, rubbing his arm as he then thought about the "gifts" he would give to the resistance group from Shinjuku.

* * *

"This is so exciting!"

Nunnally looked out the train window as it sped on by as she listened to her friends talking. She had been to Lake Kawaguchi a few times but only to the actual lake, not the hotel that she, Shirley, Milly, Nina, Mariel and Rai were currently speeding toward. After much convincing and pleading and reassurances, Lelouch had grudgingly allowed her to bring Rai with them as well.

For her, it had been a while since Nunnally could wear such casual clothing in public. She had a pink dress with ruffled short sleeves, blue dress shoes with a strap, with her brown hair ties backwards in downwards pigtails, Mariel was wearing a blue tank-top with long, black, fingerless gloves and a grey skirt over black tights and white shoes, and Rai was wearing a black blazer, blue tie and jacket with grey jeans and black shoes.

_Rai looks like brother,_ she noted, before a little smile graced her lips.

Mariel and Milly had actually hit it off, the two were nearly inseparable. Nunnally wasn't surprised, since the two had been such close friends even in the original timeline. She glanced over at Rai, who looked more than a bit awkward in the compartment the three of them were in as Mariel and Milly continued talking about their plans for when they got to the hotel across from compartments.

"how are you feeling?" Nunnally asked the silver-haired boy.

"... a little antsy," he admitted.

"Because terrorists are going to be at the hotel?" she murmured lowly so the three older girls couldn't hear them.

"Yes, but tonight is when the Black Knights debut," he said, frowning, "and I'm here."

"If you wished to help brother, then why'd you agree to come with us all?"

Rai's cheeks turned pink before he averted his eyes, muttering, "What about you? What if they find out you're a princess? I'm kind of surprised Ze- I mean, Lelouch, didn't object so much, or that you even wanted to come..."

Nunnally smiled sadly. "It's because he's wrapped himself around my finger all on his own. If I were to ask for even the most trivial thing, he's get it for me. I tell him not to bother, but he still does it. Besides, I have to come, so I can see it for myself."

Rai stared. "You mean you came because...?"

Nunnally nodded.

Just then, a sharp whimper caught both of their attention. Nunnally looked up to see Nina's face contorted with fear as her hands gripped her skirt hard enough to make her knuckles turn white. Milly gently took the bespeckled girl's hands into her own.

"Nina, it's all right," the blonde said gently, "there are plenty of Britannian tourists at Lake Kawaguchi. It's not like the Ghettos."

"Yes, but..."

"We'll be with you the whole time. We won't leave you for a second."

Nina smiled softly. "Thanks."

The three conspirators said nothing but each frowned for a moment, knowing that the plan they came up with would have to have exactly that happen.

* * *

CC yawned.

As usual, as she woke up, Lelouch was gone, off to school. And now, with him planning on introducing his would-be army to the base he had managed to get off one of the nobles he had Geassed during one of his gambling routines, as well as the uniforms and weapons.

_Still, "Black Knights"?_ CC thought as she got up to get some pizza.

She opened some of the boxes, but was disappointed to find none. She immediately went over to the drawer where Lelouch kept his multiple spare credit cards before she heard the doorbell ring. She ignored it as she searched through the clothing, until the ringer suddenly called, "Pizza delivery! Specially ordered for the beautiful and classy woman I know is in here!"

She stiffened at that. Just who was that, just outside? And why did he assume she was beautiful and classy?

_Still, if he had pizza..._

CC took the handgun that was hidden underneath Lelouch's mattress and cautiously approached the door, before unlocking it, and then opening it, revealing the pizza delivery person.

It was a man,in his late thirties, with long black hair tied back with a ponytail, steel-violet eyes, a dark red blazer with black vest and grey pants., holding a few boxes of pizza.

"Yo!" he said, before flashing a toothy grin at her.

CC stared for a moment, before she fully took in the appearance of the man, making her eyes widen.

* * *

_It was by Marianne's bed, on the dresser. _

_A picture frame, depicting __the Knight of Two when she was ten years old, smiling gaily, wearing a white dress with a crown of flowers in her hair._

_And in front of her, was a little boy, with black hair and steel-violet eyes, grinning happily as she hugged him from behind, his own hands gripping her arms just below the elbows._

* * *

_"When I grow up-"_

_The little boy gave her a confident grin before holding his pinky out._

_"- I'll definitely be the one to grant your wish!"_

* * *

"It's been twenty-seven years, since I saw you."

CC snapped out of the memory as the man walked inside and set the boxes on the table in the kitchen before opening them up, the smells of grease, cheese and assorted meats and vegetables filled the air.

"Dash Lamperouge," the immortal woman said softly.

Dash nodded before turning back to her. "Miss CC."

CC said nothing, not even when tears began to trickle down his face. To think that this was the boy from back then...

"Weren't you supposed to be in Europe?" she asked.

Dash gave a short bark of laughter before wiping away some tears. "Yeah, I am. But you see..."

With that, he listed his bangs up, to revel the mark of a Code. CC's eyes widened.

"How did you get that?"

Dash simply smiled. "We both value our secrets. I know you understand why I will say nothing."

CC frowned slightly, a bit irritated that her own words were thrown in her face, even if he didn't know that.

"Please, won't you eat?" Dash asked kindly, gesturing to the pies.

CC simply narrowed her eyes at him before she sauntered over to the first pizza, topped with green olives, mushrooms and sausage. She plopped on to the chair and began to eat the pizza, relishing the different flavours perfectly synchronizing to form a delectable taste.

That's what was so wonderful about pizza; it didn't matter the toppings, it would taste great because of the basic template of dough, cheese and tomato sauce. An infinite amount of combinations spread out before, offered by this humble creation.

After a relatively short amount of time, CC had garnished off all three boxes of pizza and three empty boxes now laid unceremoniously on the table.

"So, why are you here?" CC asked as she licked a bit of grease off her finger.

"To help my nephew. He is the child of my big sis after all," Dash replied.

"Then why didn't you show yourself sooner?"

"I've only recently learned that he was in Area 11. And for that matter, he's never even met me so it'd be awkward for me to just go out and say, 'Hey, I'm your uncle from your mother's side and I have a code; can I help you destroy Britannia?', you know?"

"... is Mariel Lubie one of your contractors?" CC asked.

Dash blinked. "You met her?"

Then he snorted. "Of course; she went to Saitama to check on her 'little brother'. Thats' where you ran into her. To answer your question, yes; Mariel is one of my contractors."

_Well, that explains how she had Geass_, CC thought, _does_ he _know then?_

"Suzaku Kururugi, and Ansel, or rather Rai, also have Geass, if you want to know," Dash interrupted her thought.

CC glanced back at him. "So, they're all helping you help Lelouch?"

"Yeah," Dash nodded.

"So it's safe to assume that they also know he's Zero," CC said, she wasn't asking.

"They know, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't inform Lelouch of this. You, of all people know the power of certain truths," Dash said, he wasn't requesting.

"But I doubt either of us would be able to stop them is they decide to tell Lelouch."

"That would be up to them in the end."

* * *

"Whoa..." Nina said softly as she stared from one of the balconies just under the roof, transfixed.

The sun was slowly setting, orange and pinks and green melting into the dark blue sky, reflecting back on crystal clear water.

It was truly beautiful.

_If only,_ she thought, her hands clutching at her elbows, _if only it wasn't _here.

Just then, she heard two sets of footsteps come toward her. She glanced behind, seeing Mariel and Ansel.

"Oh, hello," she greeted them.

That's when she noticed how serious they both looked. "What's going on?"

Just then, an explosion came from the bottom of the Hotel, rocking the structure. Nina nearly stumbled onto the floor, but kept a vice-grip on the railings. Mariel and Ansel nearly fell over but kept their balance.

"What was-"

Nina's question was cut off as Mariel grabbed her arm and raced out to the hallway, Ansel's footsteps following behind. They came to an emergency exit and Ansel quickly opened it and they entered. He closed the door again before locking it.

"What's going on, Mariel?!" Nina asked, utterly bewildered as they ran down the stairs.

"The JLF; the Japanese Liberation Front," Mariel said as they rounded another corner on the staircase, "they've taken the hotel."

Ice-cold fear gripped Nina, nearly making her feet lock into place and fall over. "The Elevens are here?" she whispered, throat constricting.

"Yeah, and we're getting you out of here," Ansel said as they opened the next door and entered the hallway.

"Huh?!"

"If you were to freak out in a room full of hostages," Mariel explained as they made their way to the next emergency exit, "it wouldn't be just you on the chopping block, you could get everyone with you killed."

Nina flinched at this, before her feet stumbled and she slumped onto her knees. Mariel stopped, her grip slacking slightly on her arm until it dropped. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, her veins were nothing but ice and all she could comprehend was utter fear.

"We're going to die," she whispered, arms wrapped around her, tears starting to bed in her eyes, "we're all going to die..."

_Slap!_

Nina's head was tilted back by the force of the slap and she actually fell onto the ground. Her cheek was red-hot with pain now. She looked up to see Ansel standing over her, his hand still raised when he slapped her.

"Stop crying," he said in a flat tone, "If you start despairing now, then you've already forfeited your life."

Nina said nothing, but his words cut through her fear and she nodded stiffly, wiping her tears away before getting back on her feet.

"All right then," Mariel said, with a smile, "let's keep going."

She was still scared, but for some reason, a tiny smile rested itself on Nina's lips as they made their way to the next emergency exit. Ansel closed the door behind them and they started their way down, before-

_Clomp, clomp, clomp._

Mariel and Ansel stopped dead in their tracks. Nina blinked, looking at them both. "Er... guys?"

Then, she heard some voices down below. They were in rough, crass tones and she couldn't understand a word they were saying. Then, she was suddenly in the air and over Ansel's shoulder bridal style and they were heading back up the way they came.

"Wha-?" she began.

"This is bad," Mariel said softly, her teeth gritting, "I didn't think they could have made it this far already!"

They came back to the hallway and Ansel slammed the door shut before quickly locking it in place.

"What's happening?" Nina asked as she looked over Ansel's shoulder.

"Those were JLF; you couldn't understand them, but I could," Mariel said, eyes narrowing in concentration.

* * *

_"I hear someone just up the stairs," the first said._

_"How many?" second asked_

_"Only two."_

* * *

"They don't know that we're actually three," Mariel said, "because they only hear two Brits."

Nina blinked before she realized what Mariel was saying; since the Elevens didn't know their group had three people, they would assume it was only two. But why would they want to trick them?

That's when it hit her. "No way... you can't-!"

"Ansel!" Mariel barked.

"Right, I understand," he responded as they halted just below an air vent and he set Nina down.

"We can't keep running back upstairs otherwise they'll end up cornering us anyways," Mariel said, eyes narrowing into a determined frown, "but we can still use their ignorance to our advantage."

Ansel jumped up and grabbed the grating before he pulled down harshly, opening the grate. Then, he snatched up Nina and set her on his shoulders. "Climb up! Hurry!"

Nina stared down in fear and horror. "But what about you two-?"

"We'll be right behind you. Don't worry," Mariel said, giving her a gentle smile.

Just then, a banging and shaking was heard from where they had exited to enter the hallway, the Eleven's voices snapping loudly as they tried to open it. Nina finally nodded and let Ansel lift her up a bit more before she pulled herself into the vent.

"Okay!" she said to them, gesturing to herself, "climb up and we can-"

Just then, she heard the door smash open and Ansel jumped up and slammed the grate closed-

**Bang.**

His dark, crystal blue eyes widened as the bullet ripped through his belly and out the other end and Ansel collapsed onto the floor. Mariel stared in shock for a moment before she went to hit side, cradling her little brother in her arms.

"Rai? Rai! Stay with me, kiddo!" she said gently yet urgently as she held the younger to her.

_"Rai"? Why would she call her brother by an Eleven name?_

She looked straight at Nina, her left eye red and face set in stone. "Go," she whispered.

Nina stared in anguish and fear before she heard the Elevens run up to the two siblings. She quickly scooted over the grating and away from the light.

"Put your hands up where we can see them!" one barked in accented English.

She then heard them pull up both and after a minute, even their footsteps faded away. The tears fell down faster and the young Britannian curled herself into a ball as she wept.

"Please..." she sobbed, "someone help me..."

* * *

Milly was afraid.

She never thought that such a little trip would turn out this way. Now, she, Shirley and Nunnally were in a roomful of hostages, guarded by men from the JLF, determined to get back their country. And she didn't even know if Nina, Mariel and Ansel were safe or not.

A moment later, an older Japanese man with a strange facial hair addressed them. "I am Kusakabe of the Japan Liberation stand we're taking is for the freedom of Japan and our countrymen. Even though you are not soldiers, you are still Britannians! You are the ones who rule and oppress us. Sit still, be quiet and you'll be fine, and if you don't..."

At that, he unsheathed his Katana halfway, the steel scraping against the sheath threateningly. Shirley shivered and Nunnally and Milly both held her hand comfortingly.

Just then, the door opened and some guards came in, with two new hostages. It was Mariel and Ansel, who had blood on his clothing. Mariel was trying to support him before he nearly buckled down, bringing Mariel down with him as she tried to help him.

"Go on! Keep moving, Brits!" one the guards barked, lifting his rifle butt threateningly at them.

Mariel glared at them defiantly before she helped Ansel up again and walked over to the hostages and sat down by a bespectacled young woman. However, they were too far away for the two siblings to see the three girls.

"Oh no, what did they do to them?" Shirley whispered softly.

Nunnally looked like she was going to cry when she looked at Ansel.

Milly said nothing but her grip on her red-head friend's and the younger girl's hands to comfort them both, praying that Nina was safe.

* * *

Cornelia grimaced as the man was pushed over the building and Kusukabe began speaking.

"Our demands have gone unanswered. Therefore, we will throw one hostage off the roof for every forty minutes that until our terms are met. For the sake of the hostages, negotiations should be in good favor."

Just that evening, the JLF had taken the Hotel under their control. However, she could care less about negotiations or demands, not when her precious little sister was in their clutches. The fact that they didn't know who she was was the only silver lining in her predicament.

"So _this_ is how they decided to warn us?" Dalton remarked before scowling, "barbarians."

"For now, I would suggest that we, at the very least, negotiate for the safety of the women and children," Guilford suggested.

"Unacceptable!" Cornelia retorted, "if we give in even once, not only would we be showing weakness, but we would also legalize terrorism!"

"Then do we resort to force?" Dalton asked.

"We would pursue that course of action, only if Princess Euphemia's safety is secured," Guilford said.

A scowl settled on Cornelia's face. _Euphie..._

_Wait._

Cornelia's scowl melted into a confused frown. This felt... oddly familiar. _What the hell? _

"Princess Cornelia!"

The woman snapped out of the deja vu she had experienced for some odd and explainable reason as a soldier came in. "What is it?"

* * *

_"There's a truck coming toward the hotel. It's Zero!" the soldier reported._

* * *

"There's a truck coming toward the hotel. It's Zero!" the soldier reported.

Cornelia blinked. _Okay, that was just bizarre. Wait, Zero?_

An irritated smirk flitted onto her lips. _  
_

She still hadn't gotten over the shame from Saitama. Now, she would be certain to repay Zero back for the humiliation he made her suffer through.

"Guilford! Dalton!" she barked.

"Yes, Princess!" they both immediately fell into an upright and stiff salute as they followed her outside.

The night sky had a few clouds against the dark blue and a solitary star had crept out. Cornelia paid no attention to such details as she climbed into her Gloucester and her two knights boarded theirs as well.

The truck slowly edged forward, Zero on top. Wasting no time, Cornelia piloted her Frame to block the truck, Guilford and Dalton following. She opened the cockpit to face Zero, her sword-rifle in hand.

She wouldn't let him get away this time.

"Well, well, well; Zero, we meet again," Cornelia stated, briefly wondering if shooting him or running him through the heart would make her feel more satisfied, "are you with the JLF, or perhaps do you intend to help us?"

She laughed briefly in her mind before saying, "Either way, our concerns take priority over yours at the moment. And so, with the death of my brother Clovis, I'll take my revenge right here," and aimed her sword-rifle at him.

Seeing him go down in a haze of bullets. Definitely better.

"Cornelia," Zero said softly, "who would you rather choose: Clovis, who is dead, or Euphemia, who is alive?"

Cornelia nearly let go of her weapon in surprise. _How did he know about Euphie?!_

"It is within my power, to save Princess Euphemia for you," Zero stated then.

"What do you want!" Cornelia barked back, her own words and voice sounding hollow, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I said that I can save her," Zero answered simply, "Let me pass and I shall return her to you unharmed."

Cornelia's fist clenched, threatening to break through the material of her glove and into her skin. She couldn't just let him do as he pleased!

_But what if he's telling the truth? What if he's the only one who can save Euphie?_

_No no NO! He's a terrorist, a liar! He'll kill Euphie just like he did Clovis!_

_But what choice do I have?_

"... Guilford. Dalton."

"Your highness?" the two knights responded.

"Move aside."

* * *

The situation was even more tense in the room. After witnessing the JLF take an innocent man and having yet to bring him back, the Britannian hostages were terrified and assuming the worst had happened, especially since they didn't know who was going to be taken next.

Rai kept drifting off and on between unconscious and conscious. His body would still feel a bit numb, thanks to Elle's healing. The bullet had passed through his stomach and he had been seconds away from bleeding to death. Elle had saved him in time, but the healing itself had taken a toll on her. It seemed that her Geass had a drawback, like Rolo's Geass.

While his stopped his heart when he used his, Elle's healing sapped her own strength to help heal a foreign wound. She could heal herself, but since it would be her won wound and using her own energy, it would exhaust her even more than if she used it one someone else. Because the Geass was so strong, Dash had advised her in the month as they prepared not to use it excessively and only in emergencies.

"You, in the wheelchair."

Elle looked up at that, knowing there was only one person in the room with one. Two guard had approached Nunnally, and were about to wheel her away. The same ones who took the man away from earlier. She immediately remembered what happened to said man from what Suzaku had told them.

_Oh no._

Suddenly, Rai was getting up as fast as he could before Elle could stop him.

"What are you doing?" Elle hissed at him incredulously, but he ignored her.

"Leave her alone!" he barked at them angrily.

The guards immediately aimed their guns at him. Elle tried to pull him down, but the silver-haired boy didn't budge.

"Stay out of this, boy, unless you want to cough up blood," one of the guards growled.

"What are you going to do with her?"

"It's not any of your concern."

_"Like hell it's not any of my concern!"_ Rai snarled, "she's-"

At that, Rai suddenly shut his mouth at that. Elle resisted the urge to facepalm herself more than once and in a combination-like manner.

"'She's what?" one of the guards asked.

"How cute," another sneered, "he's got a crush on her, don't you boy?"

Rai growled, his face becoming redder but he stood his ground. "Just leave her alone! What has she personally ever done to any of you to warrant this?!"

"You brat!"

At that, a guard cracked his rifle butt over Rai's head before kicking his legs out from under him. Rai hit the ground a moment later, and the guards began to beat him mercilessly. Elle stared in horror at the scene, barely able to see him through the soldiers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar pinkett look on as well, her expression becoming determined and she was about to get up-

_"Enough!"_ Nunnally's voice, no longer sweet, but sharp and stern cut through his ears, _"You will leave him alone this minute!"_

The guards stared at her with incredulous expressions, not just because of her audacity but the unwavering and unafraid expression on her face as she regarded them.

"You'll pay for that, girl..." one of the guards growled, brandishing his rifle.

"Enough," the first guard said sternly, "Kusakabe himself asked for her to be brought to him."

Elle was surprised and relieved simultaneously. But what would Kusakabe want with Nunnally?

_Unless...!_

"Be grateful that your girlfriend was sensible enough to submit," another guard sneered at Rai before going back to his guarding after Nunnally was wheeled away.

Elle quickly went over to Rai. He now sported bruises on his face and hands and head, blood beginning leak from his nose, lips and head. She gently propped his head onto her lap. His eyes fluttered to meet hers, dark crystal blue meeting golden brown.

"S-sorry..." he mumbled softly.

"Stupid kid," she whispered, tears pricking her eyes as she gently caressed his cheek.

Elle glanced back at Euphemia and shook her head quickly. The whole reason that quite a few things happened was because she revealed herself here. That couldn't happen again.

* * *

Nina couldn't cry anymore.

Not just because it seemed her tears had totally dried up after so long, but because she didn't want to wait around for someone to rescue her. This wasn't like her at all. But now, after seeing Ansel get shot and then the two siblings who risked their lives for her sake get captured by those Eleven monsters, she couldn't keep hiding anymore!

She didn't know how, but she was going to save them.

"Come on," she muttered as she struggled to get the grate open, "come on!"

Ansel had done a bit too good a job shutting it, it seemed to be stuck. But it didn't stop the bespectacled Britannian from trying to get it open. Finally, after another few minutes, she managed to get it a bit more free. At that, she abandoned some of her caution and started to kick down on the grate from where she was sitting until it banged open.

The hall lights had gone off a while ago, either due to the explosions or the Elevens simply turned off the lights. Nina slowly lowered one of her legs out of the vent, before long her waist was hanging out as well before she let herself drop.

She expected to hit the floor, then perform a roll to minimize any damage to her legs and feet. But she never got the chance, as she landed on another person, directly beneath her, eliciting an exclamation out of them both from surprise and a bit of pain as they both crashed onto the floor.

"O-ow..." Nina grimaced.

"Um, who's there?" the person asked, the voice of a young man.

Nina couldn't make out his features in the darkness, but she noted that he had a pleasant voice. "I'm sorry, I was hiding in an air vent above us..."

"Well that would explain quite a bit," the young man shrugged, "I managed to hide myself near some luggage on the top floor. I began trying to make my way down when you landed on me."

So we're both trying to get downstairs.

"Sh-shall we go down together?" Nina suggested, "We have the same destination."

"I don't see why not, Miss...?"

"I'm Nina Einstein," the greenette said, offered her hand to where she presumed the other's hand would be.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Nina," he said kindly, as his own hand met hers, "My name is Angie."

* * *

"I'd like to ask you something," Lelouch said, as he observed the man directly in front of him, "what exactly do you hope to accomplish by this action?"

"To gain attention," Kusakabe answered confidently, "I want the world and this country to know that Japan isn't dead yet!"

Lelouch sighed. It's just as he thought. The men here, every single one of them, was beyond saving. There was nothing for the JLF here in Japan, even if it did regain it's freedom from Britannia, and especially not for the Japanese man before him.

The door opened before he could reply, revealing a single guard. Kusakabe looked back, along with Lelouch.

"Sir, I brought the girl you asked for," the guard said.

_The girl?_

A wry smile set itself on Lelouch's face behind his mask. _You haven't changed, Euphie-_

His thought was cut off as ice-cold shock and horror made itself evident and wiped the smile off his face as Nunnally was wheeled into the room.

_Why did they bring Nunnally here? Don't tell me they know who she is!_

"What is it that you want from me? I doubt I can offer any help, nor do I intend to give any," Nunnally asked, in a cool and level voice.

Lelouch was momentarily impressed by how his younger sister acted.

Kusakabe chuckled. "It seems bravery runs through your blood, just like Cornelia..." he murmured softly before turning back to Zero.

"This young woman is Nunnally vi Britannia, one of Marianne vi Britannia's children that supposedly died in the invasion. Yet here she is, alive and well at the turning point of the war against Britannia!"

Nunnally remained perfectly composed, quite the opposite of what Lelouch was feeling, as she said, "You are right that Nunnally vi Britannia died in the invasion, so I am no longer royalty. You understand, do you not?"

At that, she glanced over at Zero, her gaze never wavering. Lelouch felt oddly naked as he looked back at his little sister, as if she knew exactly who it was beneath the mask and costume.

_Nunnally...?_

"As long as you are alive," Kusakabe said simply, "you are royalty of Britannia. And you being here, along with Zero, changes our situation greatly."

Nunnally blinked. "I can understand why you would say such things about- Zero, but what exactly do you intend me to do?"

Lelouch blinked when Nunnally faltered before she said "Zero", but kept his attention on the scene.

"With Zero joining our cause, and you as a hostage," Kusakabe stated, a smirk adorning his lips, "our victory against Britannia is guaranteed!"

"I never said I would join you," Lelouch stated, "On the contrary, I don't intend to join or help you in any way, shape or form."

Kusakabe stared at him in disbelief. "What are you saying?! There's no difference between our goals, Zero!"

"Again, I beg to differ; you strive to return things to the way they were in Japan. But far too much has damaged and changed this country. It could never revert exactly to the way it was. Japan's golden age has passed, and can never be recreated."

"How dare you!" one of the guards snarled as they aimed their rifle at him.

Lelouch scowled as his mask's compartment slid back and he momentarily heard Nunnally gasp softly before he sent her a silent apology.

_"Die."_

* * *

Footsteps echoed the darkness as Nina and her new companion edged along the hallway. They were by the side of the building, where windows over-looked the lake. The stars shimmered brightly, reflected back on the water along with the lights from the other buildings.

It was beautiful.

"Why did they do it?" Nina asked softly.

"They just want attention," Angie stated as he gripped her hand a bit tighter as he led her along, "They think that if they do something like this, it'll prove that they're aren't down and out."

"They're animals!" the exclamation burst out of Nina's mouth, indignant anger gnawing at her, "We've done nothing to them, yet they go out of their way to hurt us!"

"I agree," Angie said gently, "but they aren't attacking for no reason. They've been oppressed, stepped on and abused by Britannia for seven straight years, even after Japan fulfilled their agreement by drilling into Mt. Fuji."

Nina stared ahead in disbelief. "You-"

"But they are wrong in doing this," Angie cut her off, "and the fact that they're getting students involved, including you, makes it even worse."

"... you sound like a classmate of mine."

It was true; the way he spoke and his opinions were very much like Lelouch's. He didn't agree with the way Britannia did things, the way she saw it.

"But I don't understand," Nina persisted softly.

Angie said nothing but continued to lead her on. Just then, the building shook, more violently than when Nina felt it earlier.

"What was that?!" Nina exclaimed.

_Oh no; don't tell me they're going to blow up the hotel!_

"Come on!" Angie ordered as he began running, Nina trying to keep up with him.

However, the building shook even more and suddenly, it dipped sideways, towards the windows. The glass shattered from the impact and Nina shrieked as the movement made her stumble and fall backwards.

"Lady Nina!" Angie shouted before diving toward her.

It seemed as if everything slowed down, she could even see the individual shards of glass as she fell backwards. Then, she saw her companion jump to her, reaching out with his hand. She reached out as well and he grabbed her hand before wrapping his other arm around her waist and holding to him as they fell.

They fell, and Nina felt like her stomach was going to fall out from the drop and the fact that Angie was holding her so closely. Then, she felt her body hit the water and the air was pushed out of her lungs as water filled her nose and mouth and stung her eyes. She frantically kicked up with Angie before they both broke the surface, taking in deep breathes of air and coughing out the water they inhaled.

Nina shivered from the cold, but Angie still held her close.

"Hey, there's some boats over there!" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing forwards.

Nina looked and saw he was right; a few inflatable life rafts were slowly coming out from the hotel. Angie and Nina both swam closer to them until they were a few yards away from a raft which held some of the student council, as well as Mariel and Ansel.

"Call out to them; they won't answer to me," Angie said softly.

Nina blinked at the odd way he phrased it, but obeyed. "Over here! Please help us!"

"Nina? Nina, is that you?!" Milly called back.

"Nina, you're okay!" Shirley cried out tearfully.

Nina couldn't help the tears welling up in her eyes as she swam up to the raft and her friends pulled her up, along with Angie, hugging her tightly.

"Good to see you're in one piece, kiddo," Mariel said softly, from where she cradled Ansel in her lap, who also smiled softly at her, despite the bandages on his head and face.

"And whose your rescuer, hm?" Milly asked grinning, turning to Angie.

"He helped me," Nina said as she turned back to her companion, "his name's Angie-"

Suddenly, bright white lights clicked on behind them, almost blinding them.

* * *

**"Fear not, my dear Britannians. All the hostages from the hotel are safe and sound. I, Zero, return them to you, unharmed."**

Suzaku smiled softly as he observed from the Lancelot. There was Lelouch, now Zero, in all of his glory. He couldn't imagine how it felt for him at this moment. All he knew was that it must have been exhilarating.

_Lelouch Lamperouge lacks power, so he makes up for it by being Zero, just like I'm doing with Lancelot._

Zero stood before them on the yacht, surrounded by the resistance members, clad in black and silver, with visors over their eyes.

**"People! Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit,"** Zero shouted, **"We are the Black Knights. We of the Black Knights stand with those who have no weapons to wield; regardless of whether they be Elevens or Britannians."**

* * *

**"The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannian civilians hostage, and then mercilessly executed them. It was a wanton and meaningless act, therefore they have been punished.**

Kallen resisted the triumphant and utterly happy smile that threatened to spread over her face. She was before the world with Zero, no Lelouch, in all of his glory.

_We'll save you,_ Lelouch, she promised, _and we'll give you the world you deserve to live in._

* * *

**"Just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens, we could not stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out, and so we made him pay for his actions."**

Cornelia scowled angrily. "Curse you..."

* * *

**"I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed!"**

Nunnally looked on from the liferaft she was in in awe, but she still felt saddened. Lelouch didn't fully grasp just what that meant even as he spoke.

_Brother..._

* * *

**"Wherever oppressors have abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again. No matter how mighty, or formidable our foe may be! Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world."**

* * *

Dash and CC looked on from where they were in Lelouch's dorm as the speech ended on the T.V.

"So it begins," CC said softly.

"Yeah."

* * *

Nina stared, not quite believing what she was seeing.

The student council, Ansel, Mariel, Nunnally and Angie were on land, being tended to by Britannian soldiers before being checked for their IDs and info. However, as the lighting revealed them, they also revealed Angie.

He had jagged, longish light blue hair, grey eyes, wore a black jacket, green shirt, blue jeans and black boots.

He was an Eleven.

As the guards saw him, they immediately drew their guns and aimed at him.

"What are you doing here, Eleven scum?!" one spat.

Angie said nothing but simply looked at the guards with a calm expression. Nina didn't know what to think.

_He was so nice to me..._

_That's just because he didn't see you! Elevens are all animals!_

"Die!"

Angie gritted his teeth as he stared down the barrels as the guards fingers wrapped around the triggers-

"Stop, don't kill him, please!" Nina suddenly shouted out, running in front of Angie, _"This man is a personal friend of mine!"_

The guards and Angie stared at her in surprise. Even Nina was shocked by her actions.

"This Eleven is your _friend_?" the first asked incredulously.

"Yes, he came with us," Milly then said sternly, "and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't shoot him."

Shirley nodded vigorously, while Mariel shot them a disgusted glare. The guards stared before a gentle voice said sternly, "Lower your weapons."

Nina turned to see a girl with pink hair and blue eyes approach them.

"Princess Euphemia!" the men then snapped to attention, "This Eleven was with these students. They claim he's their friend-"

"Why would you have cause to doubt them, then?" she asked calmly, "They clearly trust him enough to vouch for his sake, even in the face of your guns."

The guards said nothing but finally lowered their guns before moving on. They had already seen their IDs. Nina's legs buckled and she slumped onto her knees with relief.

"I'm so very sorry about them," Euphiemia said to Angie gently.

"It's all right, Euphemia-do- I mean, Princess Euphemia," Angie said, bowing.

With that, the princess departed. Nina looked back at Angie. He had saved her life and was kind to her, she had saved his life, and even Princess Euphemia defended him, even though he was an Eleven. She didn't know why, but the bespectacled girl felt so much shame, she could barely stand it.

"Angie," she began, "I-"

"Thank you," he said softly, looking at her with a grateful expression, "thank you for saving my life."

Nina stopped, staring at him in disbelief before the words tumbled out of her mouth. "You-saved-my-life-the-only-one-who-should-be-than king-anyone-is-me-not-you!"

"Oh my, you saved her life?" Milly stated, looking Angie up and down, "This is the second time an Eleven's saved my council from death!"

Angie blinked. "Eh?"

"Well, we can't let your knight in shinning armor walk away unrewarded, now can we, Nina?" Milly asked, _the_ very unsettling gleam in her eyes.

_Uh oh..._

* * *

You would not believe how long I've waited to write this chapter.

I'm ont he second to last episode of attack on titan, I'm waiting for Cyebrchase season 9 and Pokemon x and y, and I can't wait for Homestuck to up-date!


	9. Chapter 9

Guest: Yes, one of this story's star-crossed lovers meet at last!

You'll see who shows up soon enough.

Actually, Kewel will- SPOILER PREVENTION.

I also know you meant "ancestor".

lightshadow101: I'm sorry about that, I truly am. I forgot to edit that out when I posted this chapter. No, you're perfectly justified in saying so since I already answered your question.

Yes, foreshadowing is good.

Yuzuki Inohara: I'm glad you like her here.

Personally, I can relate with Nina a bit. I've had instances where I've been so scared, I don't know what to do either. Heck, I'm still trying to get over not being scared of older men after an incident I went through in Grand Marais, so I know how she feels all too well.

I still don't have a concrete idea what I'm going to do with Euphemia; I mean I do, but I'm open to suggestions on what to do with her.

SomebodyLost: I'm glad you enjoyed this story.

I barely even noticed the vibe, to be honest.

I like Suzaku when he's happy too.

Wow, you really like Mariel and suzaku, don't you? I'm happy I was able to present them as such.

Yeah, I wanted to make their time-traveling different, especially regarding how to prepare for it.

* * *

_Darkness and mist._

_Lelouch couldn't see anything else._

_"Hello?" he called out, "Can anybody hear me?"_

_He knew, in the back of his head, that there was probably no one to hear him, yet he didn't stop calling out._

_Lelouch wanted to find someone, anyone, here where ever here was, yet he dreaded it all the same. Finally, after what seemed hours, he saw someone lying on the ground just a few meters away._

_"Hey, are you all right?" he called out as he approached them._

_The mist seemed to be clearing up as he came closer. However, as he was just on top of him, a very potent and very familiar scent came over him._

_Blood._

_Lelouch looked down._

_In all the nightmares he had remembered, it had always been his sister, mother or Suzaku who were covered in blood or dying before him. Not this time._

_"Sh-Shirley?!" Lelouch exclaimed._

_His orange-haired friend was lying before him, her sleeveless white blouse and green skirt stained coppery red. In her hand was a gun with a bit of smoke still coming out. The raven-haired teen fell onto his knees and moment later, collecting Shirley in his arms._

_"H-how did this happen?" he whispered, bewilderment and unabashed grief evident, "Who would do this...? I don't understand-"_

_"L-lulu..."_

_Lelouch looked down at Shirley as her olive green eyes cracked open to settle on his face, her mouth gently shifting into a smile._

_"I'm s-so happy I got to see you one last time..." she whispered, her voice thin and hoarse._

_Lelouch stared at her before his head shook almost robotically, his voice suddenly gone._

_"I think it's better this way," she continued, "I've been so confused and scared before; a false teacher... friends with different memories... I thought that at the very least, in this world of lies... I could be someone you could be truthful to, someone you could trust..."_

_Lelouch's head-shaking became more frantic. He had to do something, anything!_

_"You can't die," he said, his voice rising as his Geass activated, "Don't die; I order you not to die, Shirley!"_

_Her eyes became rimmed with red, but it was no use. One of Shirley's hands came up to grip his own._

_"I... I love you, Lulu," she rasped, a kind and gentle smile on her face, "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry... but... I promise you..."_

_"I COMMAND YOU TO LIVE!" the prince cried out, tears starting to flood down his cheeks as he silently begged his Geass to work, to reverse whatever caused this._

_"I promise... that no matter how many times I'm reborn... I'll fall... in love... with you... all over again... Lulu."_

_Then she went limp in Lelouch's arms._

* * *

Lelouch gasped out as he shot up from where he had been sleeping on the floor. His chest heaved in and out, a scream lodged in his throat that was begging to be released.

"Hm...?" CC's sleepy voice came from above him on the mattress, "What's the matter...?"

Lelouch didn't answer as he quickly switched in the lights before grabbing his school bag and fishing out his phone, frantically punching in a number before it began to ring. A few seconds passed before CC faintly heard the line being picked up at the other end.

"'lo...?" a sleepy voice murmured, "Lulu, why're you callin' me so late...?"

Lelouch said nothing, just staring ahead as he gripped the phone, unabashed relief flooding through him. The nightmare was still fresh in his mind, but...

"It's nothing, Shirley," he said softly, "It's nothing."

* * *

Dash yawned from where he was sprawled in the guest room. It was still relatively the same before he had come to occupy.

He could truly get used to living in the Statfeld manor. It was pretty lavish and he knew he didn't have to worry about going hungry. He may not have needed food, since he was immortal, but he enjoyed eating and drinking all the same. Hell, he didn't even have to worry about getting fat!

"Meaty ramen," he said to the empty carton he was holding before giving the box a little kiss, "I love you."

Just then, he heard a crash outside his room. He hopped up from his bed and looked out. A ladder had fall just outside Kallen's room and Yukiko was on the floor, wincing. Kallen came out from her room a moment later and helped her mother up and with the ladder.

A smile touched his lips as he saw this before his belly rumbled slightly.

_Breakfast time,_ he thought before going out stealthily down the stairs.

He made it to the kitchen and opened it up, where a few cartons of take-out ramen sat. Dash grinned as he took it out and quickly microwaved it. After it had heated up, Dash broke out a pair of chopsticks he had used the night before and took out a few strands of noodles and popped it into his mouth, savoring the taste.

He walked out to the living room and sat down on the couch before he took out a larger glob of noodles and put it into his mouth, before he took out his phone and checked it.

_Hm? There's a message from Mariel,_ Dash noted from the message box as he put some more noodles in his mouth and slurped them down, _Better check it._

He opened it up and read it. His eyes widened, nearly spitting out the ramen.

_No way._

"What the-?!"

Dash glanced up to see a woman with blonde hair and light blue eyes wearing a bathrobe coming out from the hallway looking at him incredulously, as well as Kallen coming down the stairs, a horrified expression on her face.

* * *

"Absolutely not!"

Euphie winced from her sister's tone of voice.

It was just a few days after the Lake Kawaguchi incident and since then, Cornelia had been increasingly protective of the sub-viceroy, even more so than usual.

"Sister, I'll be surrounded by loyal Britannians; it's the safest place to be and no one would suspect me of being there," Euphie persisted.

"I refuse to let you out of my sight again!" Cornelia snapped, "That's what got you into that mess in the first place! It was nothing short of a miracle that you weren't discovered!"

Euphie frowned. "I had no way of knowing that the hotel I was in was going to be hijacked, sister. And wasn't you who insisted I go there to survey Britanni's citizens to I would properly understand the situation?"

Cornelia scowled at that but said nothing.

* * *

Kallen burst out laughing.

Milly and Rivalz grinned when she laughed, Shirley managed to look disapproving even though she was yawning, and Lelouch scowled. Nunnally and Rai smiled, trying to hold in their laughter and Angie just looked very out of place.

Just like before, the student council was dressing like cats, and they were holding down Lelouch, trying to dress him up. She remembered the costumes that the student council wore, and now she saw Rai, Nunnally, and Angie wearing cat-like costumes.

Nunnally worse a fur-trimmed short dress with cat ears and whiskers, Rai was wearing a cat mask over his face, leaving his mouth uncovered and a tight grey body suit, and Angie was wearing floppy cat ears, finger-less gloves and a tight tank-top and pants.

"This is really unnecessary, Ashford-do- I mean, Lady Ashford," Angie said as he held Lelouch down as Shirley drew whiskers on his face.

"Oh no, if we don't hold Lulu down, then he'll get away," Milly replied.

"That's not what I meant..."

"Hey, mind telling me just what this is for again?" Rai asked as he scratched a bit of skin behind his mask.

"It's for Arthur of course!" Milly chirped as she set some cat ears on Kallen's head, "It's his inauguration ceremony as our mascot!"

"Hey, are there any more costumes that Kallen can wear?" Shirley asked as she looked back at the rack of costumes by Nina, who was wear a cat headress on her head and shoulders and paw gloves with her fingers sticking out.

"Kallen doesn't need a mask," Lelouch said, as he shot a knowing look at Kallen, "She's already wearing one."

The red-haired girl smirked wryly at him. "Funny; I was about to say the same thing to you, _Lelouch_."

The raven-haired male raised an eyebrow but Kallen had already gone over to Rai.

"You should have seen us earlier," Rai said, chuckling softly, "It was even more hectic. Speaking of hectic, how's Sir Dash?"

"He's still free-loading at my house," Kallen said, "My step-mom caught him this morning though."

Rai frowned worriedly. "He's not in jail, is he?"

A snort came from Kallen's mouth. "Actually..."

* * *

_Regina Statfeld stared incredulously._

_Dash was sitting on the couch, a cellphone in one hand and a thing of take-out ramen in the other. Kallen, meanwhile, was silently screaming at him for leaving himself out in the open._

_"'... sup," Dash said, his mouth full of meat and noodles before he slurped it up into his mouth and chewed in a nonchalant manner._

_"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Regina asked in an icy and imperious voice, "Do you know who I am?!"_

_"Regina Statfeld, formally Regina English, second daughter of the English family who fell from grace when your father lost an important deal and gambled away your family's money on drinking and high-stakes gambles," Dash said simply, "You still had your titles but they amounted to nothing because you had no money to your names."_

_Regina looked startled at that, even horrified and Kallen blinked in surprise No one was supposed to know that but their families. Hell, this was only the second time she heard of it._

_"You began to marry various men to get their money until you divorced them when you drained them dry. Edward Statfeld is number twenty-six, am I correct?" Dash said, a gleam in his eyes as he tipped the box and let the last of the noodles slid into his mouth before he swallowed them._

_The blonde woman looked at him, horrified that he had learned such things._

_"Your step-kid was kind enough to tend to me when I got in a fight and was hurt," Dash said as he licked his lips of the juice from the ramen, "and I'm sure that you're more than capable of extending to me the hospitality shown by herself and her mother. By the way, I have connections with the royal family to back me up. Don't believe me?"_

_Dash brandished his cellphone. "I've got it on speed-dial right here."_

_Regina's lips curled into a strained smile. "Of course you're welcome," she said through gritted teeth, "and you are?"_

_"Sir Dash," he said before holding the empty box to her, "Also, I'm feeling very lazy right now and can't be bothered to get up; would you mind throwing this away?"_

_It was all Kallen could do not to crack up with glee._

* * *

"Wow," Rai whistled.

"It's safe to say that there's no way that my mother will ever have to find solace in refrain now," Kallen said, smiling with relief.

"That's great," Rai said, smiling kindly.

That's when Kallen noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey Suzaku, where's Mariel?" Rivalz asked, "I haven't seen her much today."

"She said she wasn't feeling well this morning so she called in sick," Suzaku replied, "I think she's got a cold or something, she was sneezing a lot."

"I guess it's not surprising," Shirley said thoughtfully, "She wasn't wearing a lot of clothing when we were rescued. I'm just glad that we're able to relax and have some fun right now; the whole thing's a huge pain in the butt! We've been hounded with questions day and night ever since Lake Kawaguchi! I even get calls in the bath!"

Milly nodded. "We haven't been able to leave school grounds in a week."

"Hey, not that I feel for you guys," Rivalz commented, "but I don't see why we can't leave either, even Angie."

"Um, what?" Angie blinked.

Milly smirked. "That's the price of friendship. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 'it matters not that we were born apart. Upon this day, we die as one.'"

"Is that your idea of a love-quote?" Rivalz asked.

"If I go down, we all go down," Milly translated.

"Geez, that's a little dark, huh?"

I'm just relieved you all came out safe and sound," Kallen said, "It could have gone worse."

"It could have been much worse," Nunnally agreed, before a soft smile graced her lips as she looked over at her brother, "but we were saved in the end, thanks to Zero."

Lelouch said nothing but averted his eyes. Kallen blinked in confusion; what was that all about?

_Is it possible that Nunnally knows about him being Zero?_

An unknown expression flashed on Rai's face, but disappeared as quickly as it came, so Kallen couldn't pinpoint what it was, for he had turned away a moment later.

"Hey, you're awfully quiet, bud," Rivalz remarked to Angie.

"Erm..." Angie muttered, averting his eyes to the ground.

Rivalz simply smiled before he slapped Angie on the back. "Come on, you've got no reason to be worried! You helped save one of my friends, so you're a cool guy in my book!"

Angie smiled despite himself. "I'm very flattered, but I don't think it's proper that I stay here at Ahsford Academy much longer..."

"Hey now, don't be so formal!" Rivalz laughed before slinging an arm around his shoulders, "We're all friends here; you and us, we go back a whole week!"

"Even so, I do need to get back to my home," Angie said, "I don't want to worry what's left of my family too much."

That brought pretty much everything going on in the student council room to a halt. Rivalz's smile froze, Shirley looked ashamed, Milly's expression softened, Nunnally and Lelouch had sympathy in their eyes, Suzaku's expression was blank, and Nina actually stiffened from where she sat.

Angie looked surprised at himself as well before he bowed very low. "I'm so very sorry, I shouldn't have spoken out like that. Please just ignore me."

The mood lightened somewhat, the others smiling now. Milly, Nunnally and Lelouch's expressions didn't change.

"If you wanted to go back, then you should have said so," the blonde student said gently.

Angie shook his head. "This isn't the first time I've been gone for extended periods of time, Ashford- do- I mean, Lady Ashford."

Kallen said nothing as she looked at Angie before glancing over at Nina. The greenette was watching the scene from the corner of her eyes before she noticed Kallen and returned her gaze to the laptop in front of her.

"Ansel?!"

Kallen snapped out of her thoughts at Rivalz's voice. He, Milly, Suzaku, Shirley, Nina, Nunnally, Lelouch and Angie were all looking at Rai, who had tears trickling down his face from beneath his cat mask, his expression and his body trembling.

"Hey, are you all right?" Suzaku asked gently, laying a hand on the silver-haired boy's shoulder.

"I-I'm able to be here; I'm able to laugh and play with everyone," Rai choked out as more tears trickled down his face, "I'm just so happy to be _alive_!"

Sympathy and pity welled in Kallen for the boy. She had heard how he had been beaten up by some JLF for trying to protect Nunnally and how he had even gotten shot at. She already knew that Mariel had healed him with her Geass, but she still felt queasy thinking about what could have happened if she didn't have it.

_He'd be dead for sure._

Nunnally looked at Rai gently before taking his hand. "You're here now and you're safe," she said, gently smiling at him, "You're all right now."

Rai's lips trembled as they formed a half smile and the tears seemed to slow somewhat. "T-thank you..."

A scowl flashed on Lelouch's face but vanished when Kallen glanced over at him.

* * *

Suzaku yawned a bit before he stretched.

"Long night?" Lelouch asked, glancing up from the article he was reading.

"You could say that..." his friend said, smiling slightly.

Lelouch simply looked back, wondering if it was a double entendre or not.

"It's kind of bizarre," Suzaku said as he looked out the window, "how it feels that at one moment, the Student Council were all in such terrible danger, and how just this morning, we were all dressed up like cats."

"Well, they're here now, thanks to the Black Knights," Lelouch said, "That's all I can say."

Suzaku said nothing, but a pensive expression was on his face. Lelouch remembered when he had rescued Suzaku back then.

_When he said that if he were to die, the people close to him would be sad. _

He remembered Ansel as he looked on from the student body by Nunnally, and Mariel as she kissed Suzaku's cheek.

_They must be the people he talked of back then. I guess I can understand why he'd be hesitant to risk his life then. But why would he join the military then?_

"Hey Suzaku," Lelouch addressed his friend, "what do you think about the Black Knights?"

Suzaku glanced back at him, before his eyes darted to and fro before he walked over to Lelouch and sat by him.

"While I'm glad they're someone fighting for Japan, I don't agree with their methods," Suzaku admitted.

Lelouch quirked an eyebrow. "What do you not agree with?"

_Don't tell me he actually thinks we're terrorists-!_

"Zero's an utter ham," Suzaku dead-panned, "He's a Prima Dona, and he wants to be noticed; because of that, his schemes are utterly over-the-top and drawn out when a more practical approach could be taken towards the problem."

Lelouch nearly protested against his remarks as his face flushed slightly. He knew that his men thought he was unusual, but it was another thing entirely to hear this from Suzaku.

_"Prima Dona", really?_

"For another thing, Zero stacks his riskiest cards on top of the deck and stands to lose much more," Suzaku went on, "While I understand he has much to gain, he's also taking a lot of unneeded risks. It's as if he sees those who work under him as little more than chess pieces."

Lelouch nearly dropped his article at what Suzaku said.

"I can understand why he might take such an approach," Suzaku said, a stern expression on his face, "but those people all have hopes and dreams and ambitions; they are all unique, they are all individuals and they don't deserve to be treated as such when they're fighting so hard, especially by someone who's given them hope!"

There was a long silence between the two friends, Suzaku catching his breath and Lelouch in shocked silence. What Suzaku had said struck him to his very core.

_Everything he says-! But how...? Could it be that he knows?_

"Sorry," Suzaku said suddenly, smiling sheepishly, "I kind of got carried away there."

Lelouch blinked before he shook his head, forcing a guile smile on his lips. "I just wanted to know what you thought. That was a bit heavy, though."

Suzaku simply smiled before he said, "Hey Lelouch, I'm glad you've become friends with Elle and Ansel."

"It's no trouble," Lelouch responded as he remembered the two, "though I'm still amazed that you're getting married."

"I'm amazed too!" Suzaku responded, chuckling before a warm smile and soft expression came across his face, "I love them both so much."

A sharp twinge shuddered in Lelouch's chest and belly at that. Then, Suzaku left the room. Even so, the twinges were getting worse.

_That's right; ever since Suzaku's come here, he's been spending so much time with Mariel and Ansel as well as the Student Council, but the only time I see him besides school is during dinner and he barely makes it there either-_

That made Lelouch stop.

_Wait a minute; is this jealousy?!_

"U-um..."

Lelouch glanced up to see that Nina was in front of him, looking nervous. "What is it, Nina?"

"You... you're good friends with Suzaku, right?" she asked, her fingers twisting the fabric.

"I am," Lelouch stated.

"And you've lived here before Britannia came, right?"

"Yes."

"So... so you know how to t-talk with E-e-e-"

Nina stopped, her mouth failing and her head ducked down. Lelouch frowned. Just what was this leading up to?

"What is it that you're asking me, Nina?" he asked.

Nina's head tilted to meet his eyes, her face shaken but slightly more determined than usual. "I-I need your help."

* * *

Angie shrugged on his jacket.

He was in a guestroom at the Ashford Academy clubhouse, where he had spent the last few days, on the student's insistence for helping their friend. It was pretty lavish, especially when he compared it to where he lived.

_It's not their fault,_ he told himself, _It's because of their government and military that screws them up so badly._

The Japanese male still didn't understand how he had gone from nearly being shot by Britannian footsoldiers to attending a cat's inauguration at a high-class school.

_Britannians are so weird. Seriously, only they would do something so over-the-top for an animal. Well, most of them at least._

Angie remembered the young girl whom he had helped during the hostage situation. She had remained very withdrawn from the group, choosing to say at her computer, typing up some items that he didn't see.

_Her name is... Nina. Yeah, that's it._

"Well, it's none of my buisness," Angie said aloud as he zipped up the article of black cloth.

As he stood up to leave, he heard someone knock on the door of the guestroom he was in.

"Yes? Who is it?" he asked.

There was no answer. Angie blinked before asking, "Who's there?"

Silence.

Angie frowned before he walked over to the door and opened it. The Britannian boy named Lelouch Lamperouge was there.

"Um, hello, Lamperouge-sen- er, Mr. Lamperouge. What do you want from me?" Angie asked.

"Actually, it's not what I want," he said, before looking back near the wall.

Angie blinked as he looked behind the raven-haired male. After a moment, a trembling figure came from behind the corner. Mr. Lamperouge gestured them over, a kind expression on his face. Angie blinked as Nina walked over to him, her entire being quacking.

"Lady Einstein," Angie said.

Her mouth opened to speak, but he could barely understand what she was saying.

"She wanted to thank you personally for helping her at Kawaguchi," Lelouch said.

Angie blinked as he looked at the timid Britannian as she nodded jerkily.

"Um, it's no trouble," Angie said gently.

Nina's face seemed to turn red at that and her fists gripped her skirt as she shakily said something else, but again, he couldn't understand her.

"Even so, she wants to thank you on her on terms," Lelouch translated.

Angie said nothing but he was honestly surprised. He knew that the young girl before him was clearly xenophobic towards his people, yet she was going out on her way to thank him for what he had done.

"Please lead on then, Lady Einstein," Angie said respectfully, before bowing to her.

He heard her almost stutter a bit even while he bowed.

* * *

Elle grimaced before she grabbed a kleenex and sneezed into it.

She was in Suzaku's apartment with her laptop, as well as a small generator and various other equipment, typing away furiously before she found what she had been looking for. The shades were drawn and the door locked with a blanket over the cracks, so the only lights in the room came from the screen and the blinking lights from the generator and other equipment.

"Bingo," Elle grinned as the data came on the screen.

She took a flash drive and attached it to the laptop and typed in some more keys. A moment later, it depicted a loading icon. A minute later, it vanished and two blueprint-like data depicting some knightmare frames showed up.

"And," Elle said as she hit ENTER, "send."

With that, the data streamed over to it's intended destination. Even if they rejected it, Elle still had plenty of copies.

She smiled as she laid back, feeling very proud of her work, before she also felt the overwhelming urge to vomit and raced to the bathroom.

"Ugh..." Elle shuddered as she flushed the toilet, washing away the bile.

_Just breathe; just breathe and rest,_ she thought, taking some toilet paper and wiping a bit of the stuff from the corner of her lips.

* * *

Nina never felt so nervous in her life. This wasn't fear, but butterflies-in-the-stomach nervous.

She didn't know what was up with her at all, but she wanted to do something, anything, for Angie to repay him, even though he was an Eleven. Which was why she had enlisted Lelouch's help, since he was friendly with them, as evidenced with Suzaku.

They were currently at a park a few blocks away from Ashford Academy during the mid-afternoon. Nina was walking on the left, Angie on the right and Lelouch was between the two of them. She briefly noticed that Angie was looking solely at the different flowers in the park with an almost fascination, if not admiration.

"It's nice here," Angie remarked softly, looking at some of the flowers growing in a small garden near the center of the courtyard they were passing.

"Do you like flowers?" Lelouch asked.

"I used to help my k- er, my mom plant any and all sorts of flowers in the gardens behind and around my house," Angie said, smiling softly, "She could grow anything at all, even with the barest of materials. My house would always smell of flowers year round, even in the winter because she didn't want to see them wither up or die of frost. And sometimes, I even would be able to visit the Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden too."

Nina blinked at that. It actually sounded nice, what he had been describing. Her parents weren't very good with plants, both preferring to immerse themselves with technology. That's how she got into it herself. She had also heard some girls at school talking about the Osaka gardens they had visited on a trip and how they had gushed over the beautiful flowers they had seen there.

"U-um..." she mumbled, trying to put it into words.

"Hm?" Angie glanced over at her, "What is it, Lady Einstein?"

"W-what kind o-of flowers do you like?" she asked, giving him a quick glance as she popped the question.

Angie looked thoughtful at that before he said, " I was taught to like all flowers indiscriminately, but one of the flowers that really intrigue me is actually native to Britannia. It's called the Sanguinaria, otherwise known as the Plena flower, or Bloodroot."

"'Sanguinaria?'" Lelouch repeated, "What kind of flower is that?"

"It's a beautiful white flower with eight to twelve petals that blooms from March to May," Angie explained, smiling, "It's often used as an ornamental flower, but the petals fall within a day or two of blooming, so the beauty they exhibit is short-lived, though the double blossoms that are specially bred live longer, even if their pollination is more difficult. They're were often used a lot in commercials for dental hygiene."

At that, he paused as a pensive and amused expression crossed his face as he said, "Well, they were used as such, until they found out that when used in such products could cause mouth cancer."

Lelouch and Nina stared at him oddly before the raven haired male smiled and said, "Wow, you certainly know what you're talking about, huh?"

Nina was honestly amazed. She never expected him to know such information regarding a single flower, especially since he was an Eleven. "How did you learn so much about it?"

"My mom would take notes on all of the flowers she planted, and she would read them to me, sometimes even to get me to fall asleep. She had entire chapters dedicated to depicting flowers she wanted to grow herself," Angie replied, before a soft and saddened expression crossed his face, "I read it as often as I can, so I can learn to plant the flowers she wasn't able to."

Lelouch's expression faltered at that and the sentence hit Nina almost like a punch in the gut. She felt horrible now.

"I-!" she began

"I'm sorry," Angie said, shaking his head softly, "You're trying to treat me and I keep making downer comments. Please forgive me."

Nina couldn't help staring. There he went again, twisting other people's actions to make it his fault!

_What is...?_

_"Areyouhungry?!"_ she asked quickly.

Angie looked back at her. "A little, I suppose..."

"I saw a snack cart a little ways back. We can get some food there," Lelouch said, pointing back the way they came.

As they came to the more populated part of the park, where the vendor was. It was catered by a middle-aged Eleven with a kind smile on his face. Nina slowed her pace so she was behind Lelouch and Angie as they went over, only for a group of Britannian teenagers to suddenly surround the Eleven.

Then, without literally any sort of warning, one of the teens punched the Eleven down and the others began kicking him. Nina was startled for two reasons; One, she was fairly certain that the Eleven hadn't done anything to warrant her countrymen's aggression, and two, it was eerily familiar.

A moment later, Lelouch walked toward the men. Nina stared before she exclaimed, "Wait Lelouch!"

Angie said nothing but he watched with rapt attention. Lelouch went up to them and cleared his throat. The males looked back at him. Nina couldn't hear what they were saying, but moment later, the men walked away with blank expressions. She didn't know how he did it, before Lelouch motioned them over. The Eleven got back on his feet, looking no worse for the wear.

"What can I get you three?" he asked kindly, despite his apparent injuries.

"Three hotdogs and ice creams, please," Lelouch said.

"Of course."

While the Eleven opened his cart and looked through it, Lelouch was about to oull out his wallet when something came over Nina.

"Wait, Lelouch; I want to pay for it!" she said, grabbing his arm.

Lelouch looked back at her, evident surprise on his face before his simply nodded. Nina reached into her pocket, withdrawing her own wallet, silently adding the different prices in her head before she pulled out the correct amount in time for the Eleven to bring up the six items.

The greenette's hands shook almost violently as she gripped the money but little by little, she finally handed it to the man. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lelouch looking at her, with an almost amazed smile on his face, while Angie's face was blank.

A while later, the three of them were sitting on a bench, their snacks having been devoured before the wrappers and napkins were thrown away.

"That was good," Angie said to Nina, smiling softly, "Thank you very much."

Nina nodded stiffly, her face burning. "R-right."

"... Angie, what do you think of Area 11?" Lelouch asked rather suddenly.

Angie looked back at the raven-haired male before frowning slightly.

"Area 11 is actually better off than Japan was," he said, "Ever since it became it's colony, Britannia stabilized it's military and economy position in the world. Numbers can simply gain the privileges of full blooded Britannians by becoming honorary Britannians, thus gaining full citizenship through the legal process. It all comes down to a matter of pride in the end. If you remain an Eleven, then you're constantly stepped on, but if you become na Honorary Britannian, then at least you have a better chance to making it through the day. Even the Eleven over there by the vendor can tell you that your life would be better by bowing to Britannia."

Nina said nothing, but knew that it was all true.

_But,_ she thought looking back at Angie, _even if they do become citizens, they're still Elevens..._

"I can understand why they would fight against Britannia, though," Lelouch shrugged, "They are justified in doing so."

Nina stared back at Lelouch incredulously. "How can you say that after what happened at Lake Kawaguchi?!" she exclaimed, "They tried to hurt so many Britannians who never did anything to them!"

"Yet..."

Nina looked back at Agnie as he said softly, "There are Britannians who wouldn't think twice about hurting those they deem inferior. Even if Elevens became Honorary Britannians, they would look down on them all the same, and invite animosity from those who are still Elevens for becoming lap-dogs to Britannia."

Nina stared at them both, feeling sick at what they were saying. "But... but...!"

"But I cannot forgive Kusukabe for what he's done," Angie aid, with a steel-like expression, "It's because of scum like him and the JLF that things haven't improved anything for us. They plan on reverting Japan to it's former state; you cannot go back to the past, no matter what. Involving people who have never done any harm to them is beyond sickening. There's a special place in hell for people like him."

Again, the greenette was surprised. Angie seemed to be a living contradictory; one moment he agreed with something, only to also agree with the opposing argument! But what truly amazed her was-

"... I thought all Elevens hated us," she said softly.

Angie sighed at that. "We just want to be able live without fearing for our lives on a daily basis."

_"That's... that's all."_

* * *

**Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...**

"It's just a little farther now, Miss CC."

CC looked back at her companion. Dash was humming under his breath as they two of them walked/ ran through the darkness of the night to Suzaku Kururugi's apartment on his insistence after the most recent refrain raid.

_Dash Lamperouge,_ she thought, _Marianne's little brother, who was exiled to Europe..._

The male was an enigma to the immortal woman. Saying such odd phrases and comparisons, as well as he seemed to always be in his own world. Really, not much had changed about him, even when he was a child.

_Yet, he has changed,_ she thought as Dash motioned her up with a kind expression on his face.

What that change was, CC didn't quite know nor could she put her finger on it. But she knew that the change was there in the boy she met nearly three decades ago who was now a man.

"We're here," Dash announced softly before he opened the door to the apartment, gesturing CC inside.

The apartment was fairly humble, with a single bed, tv, small stove and heater, refrigerator and a table and chair. Mariel Lubie was asleep on the bed while Suzaku Kururugi and Rai were by her side, the former was gently gripping her hand in his own. The silver-haired boy glanced up as they came in.

"It's good to see you, Sir Dash," he said to the raven-haired immortal before looking at the green-haired immortal, "And it's nice to meet you, CC."

She simply nodded. Dash pulled out the chair and CC sat in it before he and Rai faced her.

"What is it that you needed to talk about?" she asked.

Dash and Rai exchanged glances for a moment before looking back at Suzaku, who simply rubbed Mariel's hands to keep the skin warm before looking back at the immortal woman.

"CC," Dash said as he looked at her with a serious expression, "please, convince Lelouch to reveal his identity and his Geass to the Black Knights."

* * *

...

I finished watching and reading Attack on Titan, as well as Abridge on Titan.

Also, I started watching the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime and am currently going through a stage of self-loathing because I just came up with a fantastic story-line but I already wrote out the storyline for Fullmetal Geass and I feel very, very...

DISAPPOINTED!

I also watched CodeMENT episode 15.

Yeah.


End file.
